


Being a Team That Shares a Tent Means That Certain Rules Must Be Observed

by AntagonizedPenguin



Series: How Best to Use a Sword [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: A Little Bit of Light Voyeurism, Also an intense plot secretly, Also only in one chapter, Anal Sex, Daddy Kink, Food Sex, Intercrural Sex, Multi, Only in one chapter though, Oral Sex, Size Differences, They're a very adventurous trio, Threesome - M/M/M, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2018-04-18 18:57:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 38
Words: 84,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4716863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AntagonizedPenguin/pseuds/AntagonizedPenguin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Cal wanted out of life was to run a good, solid team of artefact hunters and make a lot of money doing it. He was happy when that was his life. </p><p>When he started sleeping with both his teammates, that was a nice plus. </p><p>He didn't sign up for what might be the end of the world, or at least the end of his.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Being a Team That Shares a Tent Means That Certain Rules Must Be Observed

**Author's Note:**

> Starting the adventures of some new characters with some self-indulgent porn, as is (apparently) usual. This is now A Thing That I Do, it seems. 
> 
> Have fun.

“It’s wet.” Cal declared. 

“Yes.” Mick answered, wiggling his fingers as if practicing magic spells. Which Cal thought he probably was. He was dark-skinned and long limbed, and Cal liked watching his hands move. “That usually happens when it rains.”

“Good observation, though.” Wes, blonde and pale, put in from Cal’s other side. “This is why we trust you to read the maps.” 

“You both suck.” Cal informed them. 

“You wish.”

“Anyway.” It was Cal’s turn to sleep in the middle and Cal hated sleeping in the middle. Even though he thought it was kind of cool how his colouring seemed to fall right in between his two friends, Wes and Mick were both bigger than him and it made him feel tiny. “As I was saying, it’s wet. Our stuff is wet, we’re wet, our clothes are wet and it sucks.”

Their tent wasn’t too wet, though an air of damp did permeate everything despite their best efforts. They had set it up in the shade of a tree on top of a hill, so they were spared the worst of the rain that had been falling incessantly for two days. The three of them were ready for bed, kept awake only by Cal’s complaining. 

“That’s why we took our clothes off, genius.” Mick told him. “So they would dry overnight.”

“Some of our clothes.” Cal corrected. He was still wearing his loincloth, Wes was in smallclothes and Mick, modest Mick, was in an undershirt and his shorts. “Which brings me to my point.”

“Oh, he has a point.” Wes said, leaning in with apparent interest.

“My point.” Cal repeated. “Which is fuck the rules.”

“Which rules are we fucking?” Mick asked, his mask of disinterest not quite as solid as he thought it was. 

“The big one. The first one. The _stupid_ one.” Cal said. “I can’t wear this to sleep. It will still be wet when we wake up and it will be awful. I have to hang it up with the rest of the clothes.” 

The very first rule they’d made when they’d started their little business venture was no sleeping naked when they were sharing a tent (which was always, since they only had one tent). It was a stupid rule that was apparently because the first night together, before the rule, Cal had woken both of them up playing with himself in his sleep. Which was crap, and Cal was pretty sure the rule was because his friends were just way too attracted to him and were afraid of what they would do if there weren’t some layers of clothes between them. 

Saying that always got things thrown at him and disparaging remarks made about his size, but Cal stood by it. 

Wes got up on one elbow and looked over Cal. He was the biggest of the three of them and it was only that Cal knew he was literally harmless outside of battles that he never got worried about that. Sometimes the thought that he might roll over and suffocate Cal did occur to him, though. He and Mick shared a long look as though Cal wasn’t even there. “Fine.” Mick finally said, with an exaggerated sigh. 

“Woo!” Cal reached down and untied his loincloth before anyone could change their mind, freeing himself from the confines of clothing and tossing the cloth up on the string they’d strung across the tent to hang their clothes before flopping back down on top of the blankets to air himself out. “About time you to stopped acting so stupid. Like you’ve never seen it before anyway.”

“You say that like we can see it _now._ ” Mick said, apparently bored. One day Cal was going to tell him that he wasn’t as good at concealing his emotions as he thought he was. “It’s so small how do we know it’s even there?”

“Fuck you.” Cal said conversationally.

“With what, exactly?”

“Like yours is any bigger.” Cal muttered, colouring. He knew Mick was joking, but still. It was a perfectly good size relative to the rest of his body. “Not that we’d know if you even have one.”

“We have been in baths together.” Wes reminded him. 

“Anyway.” Mick said, before Cal could reply. He wasn’t as broad as Wes, but was definitely more muscular than Cal thought a mage needed to be. And he was a full foot taller than Cal, which was fortunately not apparent laying down. “You can sleep like that, but on a condition.”

“Wait, what?” Cal asked, looking between Mick and Wes, who was nodding. “When was there a condition?”

“When we agreed to let you flaunt your junk everywhere.” Wes said. 

Cal’s eyes narrowed. Had the two of them somehow agreed to this in advance? They couldn’t have known he was going to want to do this tonight, but maybe they had some standing agreement on the subject that Cal wasn’t aware of. “What’s the condition? Wait, let me guess. You want me to not touch myself?”

“Yeah.” Mick said.

“Look, you guys can project your wet dreams onto me all you want, but you’re both full of it and you know it!”

“Cal, you woke up with your hand still down there.”

“That doesn’t mean anything! Maybe I just grabbed it.”

“You were sticky.” Wes told him. “You started almost as soon as you fell asleep and then did it again just before sunrise.”

“Pf.” Cal tried to look away, but they had him surrounded so he ended up glaring down at his traitorous cock, and then glared harder when he realized that the subject of conversation had got him chubbing up. “Even if that’s true, it’s not like I can control what I do in my sleep. What do you expect me to do, tie my hands up?”

“Don’t be stupid.” Wes said. “Just do it before you go to sleep, while we’re still awake. That way you won’t need to do anything in your sleep and you won’t wake us up.”

“What?” Cal actually sat up, to look down at both of them. “Are you nuts? You want me to toss off right here?”

“Yes.” Mick said, giving him a look. “What, we’ve all done it and it’s not like we haven’t seen _you_ do it before.”

“I told you…”

“The river last week.” 

“That.” Cal’s face heated up and he pointed a finger in Wes’s face. “I told you that was an accident. I was washing myself.”

“Uh-huh.” Mick said. “The inn we stayed at last month.”

“Not my fault you two can’t knock!”

“Sitting at our campfire a while back just after we’d found that amulet.” 

“I was drunk!” Cal protested, glaring at them both in turn. “And so were both of you. You told me you didn’t remember anything.”

“We lied.” Wes confessed. “To avoid embarrassing you.” 

“You could go outside and do it.” Mick suggested. “Then it would be just like every single morning. When we can hear you.”

“Fuck that, it’s raining. And anyway, whatever.” Cal muttered, looking at his feet. He wasn’t nearly as loud as they made him sound. “Not like I’ve never seen you two jerk off.”

“Exactly, so who cares?” Mick asked. “What was it you said about sleeping naked the first time we said no? ‘Perfectly normal boy thing, calm down.’”

“It’s just weird.” Cal said. “That’s all. Besides, what are you going to do if I say no? Forcibly dress me again?

Wes and Mick shared another look and Wes shrugged. “Either make you sleep outside or do it for you, I guess.”

“Do it for me.” Cal’s hands came up into his lap to cover himself, though by now both of them had to have noticed that he was mostly hard. There was something weird about the way Wes had said that, but Cal didn’t have time to unpack it. “And have your freakishly large hands snap me in half. No thanks, I can do it myself.”

“Then get to it, buddy.” Mick waved a hand at him to hurry him up. “Some of us want to go to sleep.” 

“Yeah, I’ll get right on it.” Cal grumbled, looking at the two of them. They looked back. “What, are you going to watch?”

“Yeah.”

“Why not?”

Cal didn’t usually get embarrassed about what he regarded as the perfectly normal bodily functions of guys their age, but sitting there in between them felt weird. “Well, I want you guys to get naked too, then. Otherwise it’s just creepy.” And, well, it would give him something to look at while he did it.

Another glance between the two of them. “Okay.” Wes reached down without a second thought and shoved his smallclothes down, his own erection popping out to slap against his belly. He slid them off and tossed them up onto the line.

“Perverts.” Cal accused, looking from Wes’s stiffie to the tent that Mick was obviously pitching in his shorts. They had both gotten hard just from talking about this. And fine, he had too, but that was a little different, since he was the one expected to…perform. “Mick.”

“Yeah.” Mick sat up, lifted his shirt over his head slowly and hung it on the line with care. For a minute it looked like that was all of his dark skin that he was going to be showing despite what they’d agreed. Modest Mick. He was always reserved about his body (though he had no reason to be, in Cal’s opinion). Cal had just opened his mouth to say that it was okay, and he could keep the shorts on if he really needed to, when Mick finally did reach down and pull the shorts off, slowly and deliberately exposing himself to the other two. 

When his shorts were hung, Mick sat there, clearly making an effort not to cover himself with his hands. “Well? You going to get on with it?”

“Yeah.” Cal said, moving his eyes back to himself and reminding himself very firmly that size was relative, both his friends were bigger guys than him, people grew at different speeds and quality was more important than quantity anyway. He stopped covering himself and, trying to project the confidence he usually felt about his body, grabbed his shaft firmly in one hand and his balls in the other.

Cal couldn’t decide if it was a good thing or not that he’d snuck off to do this after dinner earlier. One the one hand, if he hadn’t, this wouldn’t have lasted long and it would have been over with. On the other, then his friends would make fun of him for having no stamina. He wasn’t sure which was worse. 

_Fuck it._ Cal decided. He wasn’t going to rush though it and be all embarrassed. If his friends wanted to watch him jerk himself, he was going to do it _properly._ He rolled his balls in one hand for a bit before letting go, spitting on his hand for a little lubrication and using it to rub the head against that hand while he worked the shaft with his other. Since they were right in front of him, he imagined Wes and Mick doing it for him like they’d threatened, their big hands all over him.

Cal wasn’t aware of it, but he started making little desperate-sounding noises as he got deeper into it and slowly forgot he was being watched. He wasn’t even close to being finished, but the noises started to pick up in speed in time with his hands, getting louder as he went. There was a reason why Wes and Mick always knew when he was doing this. 

His eyes were closed and Cal pictured Wes and Mick doing this along with him. Wes would groan loudly as he jacked himself with one hand, the other propping his head up so he could watch himself. Mick would bite his lip, squinting as he worked himself with both hands. It helped that, like him, both of them were occasionally too concerned with themselves to lock a door or make sure nobody was using the same tree as them. Cal had seen enough that he knew his fantasies were at least somewhat accurate.

A hand on his shoulder drew Cal out of his fantasy and though he didn’t stop jerking, he did open his eyes to see Wes right there. Mick was on the other side of him, and both were transfixed. “We’re going to help you after all, Cal.”

What? “What?” Cal asked, as Wes gently pulled one hand away and Mick pulled the other. “What the fuck?”

“Shh.” Mick said, one hand wrapping around Cal’s cock and the other on the back of his neck. “Lay down, buddy.” Wes pushed him from the front and Cal let them lay him down.

“You guys…” Cal panted. “You guys planned to do this from the start.” He accused. “Ugh.” Mick had replaced his jerking hand and Wes his head-rubbing hand, and it made it hard for him to think. Cal’s noises started up again, more pleading now. 

“Yeah.” Wes told him, rubbing Cal’s belly with his free hand. “It’s okay, we got you.”

“Okay.” At the moment Cal couldn’t think of any possible objection to this situation. Wes brought him thumb up and rubbed circles around Cal’s head and Mick had a very firm grip, jerking him slowly, just a little too slowly. 

Cal didn’t close his eyes this time, watching the two hands that were not his, two big, warm hands, devote so much attention to him. Wes rubbed his belly and Mick his thigh, comforting him. This wasn’t about making sure he didn’t wake them up. If someone had told Cal that he’d feel this much tenderness from a two-way hand job, he’d have laughed and offered to prove them wrong. But here he was, feeling warm and more comfortable than he ever had been. 

And then Mick, modest Mick, leaned down and took the head of Cal’s cock in his mouth as if it were something he did every day, sucking gently on the tip. “Oh my God…”

“Hey.” Wes said gently, and he was down there too, and Cal could feel his breath on his shaft. Mick let Cal out of his mouth with a small pop. “Me too.” Wes’s mouth replaced Mick’s, and rather than sucking he ran his tongue around the head, tasting the whole thing. Cal let out a sound that was half yelp, half cry.

Wes pulled off as well, letting open air hit Cal’s swelling head, but both of their mouths stayed on him, licking and kissing all the way up and down his shaft. Wes was holding him in place at the base and Mick had his balls in a feather-light grip, massaging them gently. They both came back up to the head and paid it enough attention that they may as well have been making up for some deficit, lavishing with their tongues and lips, kissing it and kissing each other around it.

It was the sight of Wes and Mick kissing with his cock in the middle that did Cal in. “Ahh…guys!” He came in two thick globs that fell onto his stomach, and then three hard spurts, the first of which got into his hair, with the other two hitting his face, and several more spurts after that, splattering his chest. Wes and Mick moved back a little to avoid being hit but never stopped moving on his cock, not until he was completely done and spent. 

“God…” Cal panted. “Fuck…guys.” The two of them moved up, laying on either side of him. “What the hell. Was that.”

“A declaration.” Wes told him, kissing him on one cheek.

“Of what?”

“Our intentions towards you.” Mick said, kissing the other. 

“Oh.” Cal tried to think about that. Vaguely, he thought this should be surprising. “I didn’t know.”

“That’s why we took the direct approach. For a smart guy you can be a little dense.” 

“Okay.” Cal’s brain was spinning but thoughts weren’t coming to him the way they were supposed to. “I want to do you guys too. I want…”

“You’re too tired.” Mick told him.

“We can do it ourselves tonight, don’t worry.”

“No.” That wasn’t fair. “I want to declare too.” 

“You can barely move, Cal.” Wes said, stroking his hair. 

“Yeah, but…” Cal thought about it. “Okay that’s true. You’ll have to just rub your cocks on my hands and pretend I’m doing it.”

“How about we try something else instead?” Mick asked, reaching up and scooping as much of the cum from Cal’s face as he could.

“Okay.” Cal said, losing track of Mick’s hand as it left his vision. Wes was doing the same for the cum on his chest and then suddenly both of their hands were between his legs, smearing it all over his thighs. When they were done they came back and gathered more of his spunk and did it again. “What’re you doing?”

“Helping you help us, buddy.” Mick said, rolling Cal on his side so he was facing Wes. 

“Wait.” Cal said, trying to turn around. “You’re not going to…”

“No, we’re not.” Mick assured him, rubbing his shoulder. “Not tonight, anyway. Don’t worry. Just relax, okay?”

“Okay.” Cal couldn’t help but feel reassured and safe with them both there, so he did as he was asked. There was some rustling of blankets as Wes and Mick moved, and he felt a stiffness insert itself between his slicked thighs from the front. “Oh.” He said, as Wes slid his cock the rest of the way between Cal’s legs. “I get it.”

“Good.” Mick said, sliding himself in underneath Wes, so tightly they must have been rubbing against each other. “Just lay there and let us do the work, okay?” Cal nodded and at the same time, both his friends started thrusting back and forth.

It felt a little weird at first. They were both just sort of rubbing themselves against his body, and he wanted to protest that he wasn’t some pair of old shorts for them to jerk off into. But sandwiched in between them, Mick breathing heavily into his neck and his own face buried in Wes’s shoulder as Wes inhaled the scent of Cal’s hair, he realized that wasn’t what was happening. Their arms were around him, hands still touching him everywhere they could reach. He could hear Mick’s grunts and Wes’s moaning, and smell nothing but the two of them. They could have used their own hands for this and instead they had chosen him. They were going to get off because of him, the wanted _him._

Realizing that made Cal hard again and he added his own noises to the mix, thrusting upwards against Wes’s belly. Immediately two hands wrapped around him, jerking him roughly, faster than before, in sync with their thrusts. Even though Cal had just come a few minutes ago he could feel it building up again. His entire body, slick with sweat from exertion and being in between these two, started to feel hot and he started shaking as he felt it coming.

Wes came before him, his free hand tightening on Cal’s hip. Cal could feel heat spreading up the inside and back of his thighs as Wes went rigid and let out a sustained straining noise until he was done. Before he was finished Mick went silent, hand on Cal’s shoulder flexing rhythmically as he coated Cal’s thighs with more spunk, jacking in and out like a rabbit as he did. Both of them lay there on either side of Cal, panting, their hands still working on Cal’s second orgasm.

It came quickly and Cal cried out, trying to curl into a ball from the sensitivity but not able to because he was stuck between them. He coated both of their hands before collapsing into a panting mess with them. 

How long they lay there just breathing, recovering, Cal had no idea. It was clear that none of them were going to be moving soon, and Wes just reached out and pulled a blanked over all three of them. “How long were you planning that for?” Cal asked, his voice barely able to rise above a whisper.

“Since we were drunk at the campfire.” Wes said, and Cal couldn’t help but laugh a little. “After you put on your little show and passed out, we agreed we wanted an encore.”

“We agreed we wanted a _sequel._ ” Mick corrected sleepily. “With us as supporting cast.” 

Cal found himself trying to reassess everything that had happened in the last month or so, trying to pick up on some hint that this had been going on. It was funny how, despite how unexpected it was, it also seemed so obvious now. “So, this whole time, have you two been…with each other, I mean?”

“No.” Mick told him. 

“We wanted to. But it didn’t feel right if it wasn’t all three of us. We agreed to wait for you.” 

“Well wait no longer.” Cal told them. “Because if we don’t do that again I’m going to be disappointed.”

“So will we, buddy.”

“I guess we can get rid of rule number one now, right?” Cal asked, smirking. Seemed kind of silly to have a dress code for shared sleeping space now.

“I suppose.” Mick yawned. “And rule number two.” That one was no sex with anyone in the shared sleeping space without permission.

“And rule number three.” Wes added, drawing both of them in closer. No relationships among members of the team. 

Cal just giggled. “Rules are made to be broken.” He wondered vaguely if they should clean up, but at the same time he really, _really_ didn’t want to move. 

“Funny.” Wes told him. “Go to sleep now.”

“Yeah.” Mick nodded into Cal’s shoulder. “Sleep now. Talk tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Cal yawned, shifting a little and enjoying how slippery his legs felt. “Thanks, guys.”

“Thanks, Cal.”

“Goodnight.”


	2. Relationships with Teammates Must Not Interfere with Work

“I hate this disguise.” Cal declared, once they were alone in their room. “It sucks.”

“I think it’s pretty wicked.” Wes was reclining on the bed, which Cal judged as being just big enough for the three of them, though he might have to sleep on top of one of them. 

“You would.” Cal grumbled, tossing their bags in a corner. “We should have come up with something else.”

“You’re the one who said this keep was too well-defended to break into.” Mick reminded him. He was sitting at the little writing desk in the corner, fiddling with a stout dagger. 

“And I was right about that.” Cal started going through his bag, looking for the clothes he’d stashed at the bottom. “Lady Redwater must be really worried about her safety if she’s got this much security. We never would have got in. A wandering knight and his vassals were the best bet.”

“So, what’s the problem?” Wes asked as Cal found what he was looking for and came to sit on the bed beside him.

“I’m not your squire!” Cal insisted. “We’re the same damn age. If you weren’t absurdly large this would never have worked.”

“And if you weren’t absurdly small.” Mick said from the corner. 

“Shut up.” Cal lifted his tunic over his head and tossed it on Wes’s face before starting on the laces of the stiff breeches he was wearing. 

“I’ll remind you that it was your idea.” Wes pointed out.

“Yeah, well.” That was true. “It made sense at the time. I should have thought of something better. Besides, how was I supposed to know you were going to be so… ‘he doesn’t need a bed, I’ll find somewhere to sleep him?’ Really, Wes?”

“It’s not like they didn’t assume that anyway.”

“You didn’t have to help them along.”

“It’s also not like it isn’t true.” Mick put in.

“Shut up.”

“So, young squire.” Wes said, reaching up and working a finger underneath the back of Cal’s loincloth. “Since you’re in uniform anyway, don’t you think it’s time you carried out your squirely duties? I’ve got a sword that I need you to polish.”

“I am working now.” Cal huffed, pulling on the darker clothing he’d retrieved. “And I polished your sword this morning.”

“And your own.” Wes reminded him.

“Twice.”

“I have a high libido.” Cal said defensively, pulling on his shirt and reaching for the soft moccasins he wore when working. “You almost done with that dummy, Mick?”

“I’m done now.” Mick stood while Cal finished with his feet and handed him the dagger. “You know the drill, touch it to the real thing and they’ll feel the same to anyone looking.”

“For long enough that we’ll be out of here, anyway.” Cal nodded, strapped the dagger to his belt. “It’s below us?” 

“Yeah. Underground, if I did the spell right.” Mick held up a hand. “Which I did, thank you. On the other side of the castle.” 

“Okay. Thanks, Mick.” Cal got up on his toes and kissed Mick on the side of the mouth. 

“Hey, how come I don’t get a kiss?”

“Because you’re a jerk and I don’t like you.” Cal told Wes, but he sighed, crawled back on the bed and on top of Wes to give him one on the nose. “When I get back we’ll see about that sword polish you wanted. Maybe Mick can start it for you while I’m gone?” He asked, with a sly smile up at their friend.

“I could do that.” Mick said, sitting beside them and rubbing Wes’s leg idly. “Just don’t take forever or we’ll finish and be asleep before you get back, and then what would you do?”

“Well I have it on good authority that when I’m left to my own devices I wake you two up, so I expect I’d be fine.” Cal didn’t really want to move from his position here, but there wasn’t any point in them having gone through this whole charade if he didn’t actually go steal the relic they were here for. 

He sighed and crawled off Wes with great effort. Being a successful relic hunting team meant a lot more sacrifice than Cal had realized when he’d decided to get into the field. “Hey!” He yelped, when Wes pulled him back up by the armpits and met his mouth for a fast kiss. 

“Good luck.” Wes said, letting him go.

As he sat Mick leaned in and did the same. “Good luck, Cal.”

“You two.” Cal said, flushing a little as he stood and pulled on his hat and mask. “Are insufferable.” But certainly not in a way that he hoped would stop anytime soon. “I don’t need luck, you know that.”

“Come back early and we’ll help you get lucky, though.” Wes said, grabbing Mick’s waist and pulling him down lay beside him on the bed. Mick laughed and kissed Wes on the cheek.

“Funny.” Cal shook his head. And they accused him of always being on. “I’ll be back soon.” 

“Careful.”

“I’m always careful.” Cal rolled his shoulders, stretched and headed for the door, inching it open to make sure there was nobody in the hallway outside. “You kids behave while I’m gone.”

“That seems unlikely.” Mick said, hands starting wander downwards from Wes’s chest. 

“That’s the way I like it.” Cal gave them one last look before slipping out into the dark hallway, taking a deep breath as he shut the door behind him. _Don’t think about them._ He commanded himself. _You’ll just distract yourself._

That was harder to do than to think about doing, but Cal did his level best and made his way down to where the Lady Redwater was keeping her dangerous relic. And if he moved a little faster than usual, well, it was going to be a long night. He still had that sword to polish after this.


	3. Dangerous Lines of Work Become Worrying When Deep Connections Form between Companions

“Cal.”

“Mick.”

“You could work faster.”

“Believe me when I say I’m trying.” Cal was buried in a mess of tripwires, false switches and levers that would activate several traps in the floor leading to the pedestal at the back of the room. To the naked eye it looked perfectly safe to walk up there and just take the metal orb sitting on it, but Cal had been at this long enough to know better. He’d be killed six different ways before he got within ten feet of what they were here for.

Too bad the traps were all controlled through this one stupid panel and whoever had built it hadn’t thought to make it friendly to anyone trying to steal their treasure. 

Cal chanced a glance up as he worked to dismantle the triggers. Wes, in full armour and axe in hand, was engaged in a shoving match the golem who’d woken up and attacked them as soon as they’d walked in the room. Mick was supporting him as best he could, though combat magic wasn’t his strong suit.

“Golems.” He grumbled to himself as he worked. “Who even has golems in this day and age?”

“Now is not the time to be disappointed with the state of the world.” 

“I’m almost done.” Cal said, cutting a tripwire. A panel in the stone ceiling between him and the pedestal grew spikes and then fell to the floor, which triggered a volley of hidden arrows to fly from the walls. Cal blinked. “Okay. How you doing, Wes?”

“I’d be doing better if there were an end in sight, shortstack.” Wes grunted as the golem slammed into him, but he kept his feet.

“Well, that was uncalled for.” Cal muttered, digging deeper into the mechanism that worked all the traps. Why couldn’t they have just used magic like normal people? Then Mick would be the one dealing with this. 

He heard Wes shout and looked up to see the golem throw him back, into the wall. “Wes!” Cal really didn’t like the way Wes’s head hit the rock. 

“Do your job, Cal!” Mick did something with his hands and the golem was lifted from its feet and thrown into the back wall. Panting, he ran over to see to Wes.

“Right.” Getting distracted wasn’t going to help. He went back to work, trying to make his hands not shake. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.”

“Okay.” Cal pulled out a little gear and tossed it aside. “I’m done. I’m going in.”

“Speed would be appreciated.” The golem was advancing on them again, and Mick was wiggling his fingers and had begun chanting under his breath. 

Cal nodded and ran towards the pedestal, keeping an eye on his surroundings. It didn’t look like any of the traps were going to kill him, thankfully. The orb was just sitting on the pedestal and after a cursory glance around Cal snatched it.

He heard a click and threw himself backwards, in time to avoid the metal cage that fell from the ceiling, the walls barbed on the inside. A trap in the pedestal itself. He should have seen that coming. “I’ve got it!” He called, scrambling to his feet and trying to calm himself and pretending he hadn’t almost died just then. 

Cal turned just in time to see the golem start to crumble, and Wes stood to deliver a blow with his axe that broke it into pieces. Quickly, he hurried over to join his friends. “You guys okay?”

“Yeah.” Wes said, wiping blood from his eye. “Think I broke my skull, but Mick healed me up nicely.”

“You’re welcome.” Mick said, sweating and bent over in exhaustion. “Can we go?”

“Yeah.” Cal just stood there for a second, struck by how close they’d both come to getting killed. “God, you guys. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“We’re fine.” Wes told him.

“I know, but…” Cal just shook his head and hugged Wes, and then Mick in turn. “I was worried.”

“Don’t think we didn’t notice that you almost got crushed at the end there.” Mick pointed out, when Cal let him go.

“That was no big deal.” Cal waved his hand at the cage. “Just let me worry about you two for a while, okay? I swear, you two are going to be the death of me.” He said, looking at Wes. “You especially, you big rhinoceros. You’re bleeding all over the place, you know.”

“The way I see it you’re going to be the death of us.”

“Nobody’s allowed to die.” Mick said firmly. “No dying allowed. I expect you two to still be bugging me when I’m eighty, you got it?”

“Yeah.” Cal smiled, not able to imagine it any other way. He led the way out of the room, checking for any traps he might have missed coming in. “Are you two okay to get to the surface?”

“No, you’ll have to carry us up the ladder.” Mick panted.

“Well.” Cal said, holding himself as tall as he could. “I guess we’re living underground now. This is what our life will be from now on.” 

“Wimp.” Wes said, enunciating clearly. 

“Normal-sized human being, thank you very much. Not all of us can have the constitution of an oak tree.”

“No, you’re just short.” Mick assured him. “Honestly, that’s all it is.”

“Fuck off.” Cal grunted, hoping there was a trap they hadn’t found so he could set it off and shove the two of them into it. “Nobody asked you. Besides, you should be nice to me.” He showed them both the orb. “Or else I’ll smite you with the…” What did this thing do again? “I don’t know, the Orb of Some Sort of Magical Bullshit.” 

“Your knowledge of this field is truly inspiring, Cal.” 

“Yeah, well.” Cal flipped the finger over his shoulder and kept walking. 

Cal walked in front because otherwise they would see the grateful tears rimming his eyes. Every once in a while he was reminded of how dangerous what they did was, and he couldn’t bear to lose either of them. He needed Wes and Mick. 

When they got back to their camp, he was going to show them exactly how important they were to him.


	4. Sometimes It's Nice to Reassure Your Friends of How Much You Appreciate Them

“Going to go check the perimeter.” 

“Okay.” Cal said, not bothering to remind Wes that Mick had put up all kinds of magical something or other to prevent people from sneaking into their camp unannounced. It made Wes feel better to take a look himself, just in case. Cal continued burying the fire and cleaning up the general disruption they’d made in nature by camping here, watching idly as Wes to go look at hiding places and strategic cover.

Mick had already disappeared into the tent after doing his magic thing and when Cal was finished putting everything away he went in as well. He stuck his head under the tent flap and paused, smiling as he watched Mick carefully fold the clothes he’d been wearing earlier and pack them away in his bag. “You know, I’m really glad that you changed your mind about the whole nudity thing.”

“I didn’t.” Mick said, buttoning his bag shut and turning to watch Cal. “Our circumstances changed a little bit. What have I told you about wearing your boots in the tent?”

“I’m taking them off.” Cal said defensively, sitting to do just that but not taking his eyes off of Mick. “What does that mean? You didn’t change your mind.” 

“In my family we don’t really do casual nudity. You get naked in front of the people you’re going to have sex with and that’s it.” 

“Huh.” Cal hadn’t known that. It upset him a little bit, actually. “Where I’m from you can barely say you’re friends with someone if you haven’t been naked together. It’s like a symbol of equality or something. ‘Everyone’s the same with their pants off.’ Is what my dad said to me once.” 

Mick smiled at him as Cal finished with his boots. “I suspect our parents wouldn’t be friends if they knew each other.” 

“Yeah, probably not.” Cal crawled forward and kissed Mick, aiming for the mouth but hitting his chin instead. “I’m glad.” He said. “That you picked us, then.” 

“I don’t know who else you think I would have picked.”

“You could have had your pick of anyone, probably.” Cal said, kissing Mick’s throat now. “The other thing is, I’m a little bit annoyed.”

“Annoyed?” Mick asked, and Cal smiled as he felt the vibration in Mick’s throat. “What, at me?”

“Yeah, at you.” Cal said, kissing between Mick’s collarbones. “I like your body a whole lot, you know. I wish you hadn’t spent so long hiding it from me.” 

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Cal kissed a line down Mick’s chest. “I wouldn’t have wanted to pressure you into doing something you weren’t comfortable with.” 

“But…”

“Shh.” The kisses moved below the diaphragm, onto Mick’s belly. Cal hovered above the navel for a second and looked back up. “It’s okay. Don’t feel bad. But now that I can I’m going to show you how much I like your body.” 

“God, Cal. You say shit like that and…”

“I know.” Cal kept kissing downwards until he got to his destination. He pressed a kiss to the head of Mick’s quickly growing erection before taking the entire rod in his mouth, sucking back two thirds of it in one go. 

“Fuck, Cal.” Mick grunted. “You’re…”

Cal lifted his head and let Mick fall from his mouth for a second. “We’re not talking about me right now.” He went back down on Mick, taking even more of him in this time, and concentrating on not gagging until he could move the rest of the way down in one motion, letting Mick slide into his throat. 

Being able to do this had become a point of pride for Cal. Mick fell back, letting out a sort of sustained hum as Cal sucked on him. He didn’t hear the tent flap rustle behind him. “Well, I get a show before bed, isn’t that nice?”

Cal pulled off of Mick again, enjoying the needy gasp that Mick let out as the air hit him, and liking the look of Mick’s cock covered in his saliva. “I’m explaining to Mick how happy it’s made me that we get to see what he really looks like now.” 

“You seem to be in the middle of a fairly compelling point.” Wes said, sitting beside Mick and stripping in one fluid movement. “Don’t let me interrupt.” 

Wes leaned down and kissed Mick deeply, his hands running up and down Mick’s chest. Cal smiled and took Mick back in his mouth, all the way down to the root in one motion this time. Mick resumed humming, now into Wes’s mouth.

Cal reached up and started to massage Mick’s inner thigh because he knew Mick liked that, and within a few seconds the humming had become more desperate. He didn’t notice that, but he did notice Mick tapping the top of his head frantically and pulled up but not off, keeping the head in his mouth for a moment longer, teasing the little hole with his tongue until he felt Mick tense under him. Cal let Mick pop out of his mouth just in time for him to shoot hot streamers up into the air. Wes moved back as well and let them all land on Mick’s belly, only breaking their kiss when he was spent. 

Cal leaned back and observed his handiwork. Mick was laying there sweaty and sticky and dazed. Yeah, he liked this. “I swear I could shoot just looking at you like this.”

“Yeah, me too.” Wes agreed, and he and Cal shared a look. They looked down at Mick at the same time, who looked up at them, smiled and nodded vaguely. Cal undressed as quickly as he could, though his belt got tangled around his ankles, and didn’t pay much attention to where his clothes landed. 

Wes was already stroking himself and Cal followed suit, making himself go slowly so he didn’t finish right away. Mick was still hard to Cal grabbed him gently, and Wes’s hand joined his almost immediately.

The tent was filled with their sounds for a while, Cal’s little gulps and Wes’s grunts and Mick’s humming. Cal came first despite his best efforts, splattering all over Mick’s belly. Wes followed, adding his cum to the puddle and then the two of them eased Mick into his second orgasm. He cried out their names in succession until he was finished, looking entirely satisfied. 

Cal crawled up on Mick’s left side and curled up beside him, head on Mick’s shoulder. Wes lay down on his other side, their arms wrapped around one another. “We really are glad, Mick.”

“Thanks, you guys. That makes me really happy, you know.”

“Do me a favour.” Cal said, before Mick could drift off. “In the morning I want you to let me wash you off in the river, okay?” 

“Okay.” Cal wasn’t entirely certain that Mick had heard him and he smiled over at Wes, who looked just as pleased as Cal felt. He snuggled in beside Mick and went to sleep, more grateful for these two than he’d ever been for anything.


	5. If a Door is Slammed in Your Face, Break in through the Window

“Fucker.” 

“I can’t decide if we should buy him more drinks or stop letting him have drinks.” Wes said, looking at Mick and shrugging.

“Definitely that first thing.” Cal muttered, finishing his drink. “Stupid fucker. We should kill him.”

“That would be awfully bad for our reputation.” Mick pointed out. 

“It would definitely send our future clients a message that you don’t hire us to get something and then decide not to pay us.” 

“At least he decided that before we gave him the orb.” Wes pointed out.

Cal glared at him and then for good measure glared at the Orb of Some Sort of Magical Bullshit, which was sitting innocuously on the table in between the three of them. Unpaid for and not likely to ever be paid for. “We almost died getting this stupid thing.”

“We almost die all the time.” Mick sighed. “We’ll find someone else who wants it, Cal.”

“I don’t even know what it _does._ ” Cal whinged, still looking at it. “How are we going to fence something when we don’t know what it is or why it’s important? Tell people it’s a nice accent piece for their sitting rooms?” 

“I’ll try to find out what it does.” Mick told him, flagging down someone to bring more drinks for them. Cal was drinking twice as much as either of them, which was a bad idea, but he was pissed off and Cal made bad decisions when he was pissed off. “I’m pretty sure that if we’re going to try to sell something of vague magical usage, we’re at least in the best place for that.” 

“I guess.” Cal sighed. Merket was the kind of city where someone might want something like this. About two days inland from White Cape, which was the nearest port, it happened to be positioned on a major trading road and so lots of people came through here all the time. It was a hub for the adventurer trade, and also for the black market on magical relics, which was why the three of them were here. 

“Cal.” Wes said, quite reasonably. “Tomorrow, when you’re done pouting, and being hung over, you’ll sit down and find a way to work this out. That’s what you do.”

“Fuck you.”

“Not with that attitude.” Wes smirked.

“Piss off.” Cal grumbled, putting his head down on the table. Wes being right was making him angry. “I’m trying to be mad.” 

“We got paid for all of our other jobs.” Mick pointed out.

“I don’t care. I’m being mad about the one we didn’t get paid for. Just let me sit here and be mad, God.” 

“You know, it’s when you behave like this that I’m reminded of the fact that it was your charm that first convinced me to follow you.” 

“Charm is for people who got paid today.” 

“Evening, boys.” Cal jumped at the voice and clumsily grabbed the Orb of Some Sort of Magical Bullshit from the table, making it disappear into his sleeve. He didn’t need it being stolen from them on top of that. “Well, that’s a charming reception, Cal.” The speaker was a shortish woman with shaggy blonde hair falling in her eyes, wearing plate armour and a sword even indoors.

“Go away, Beatrice.” Cal said, glaring at her. He didn’t need to see a competitor on top of everything else. “I don’t want to talk to you. There’s a list of people I don’t want to talk to and you’re on it.” 

“You don’t want to talk to anyone right now.” Wes pointed out. “Even us.”

“She’s on the usual list!” Cal glared at Wes. “And you’re supposed to be on my side.” 

“Yeah, well.” Wes shrugged. “You’re supposed to be nice to me.”

“I’m hardly ever nice to you anyway!”

“Bad day?” Beatrice asked, pulling over a chair and sitting way too close to Wes. Cal glared at her, but she affected not to notice. 

“We got stiffed on a job.” Wes offered, and then Cal glared at him instead because _Hello, this is the competition._

“That sucks.” Beatrice took Wes’s glass and drank. “Kill the guy.”

“That was my suggestion.”

“Oh.” She looked at Cal. “Obviously it was a bad idea, then. Don’t know what I was thinking with that one. Do you still have the thing?” Someone must have nodded to her, because Cal didn’t and she kept talking. “Well, that’s good at least. You’re in the right place to try and sell it.” 

“That’s what I said.” Wes told her.

“That’s because you’re the brains of the outfit.” Beatrice said promptly. “Not to mention the muscle and the looks.” 

“Stop hitting on Wes.” Cal grumbled. “He’s like a quarter of your age and he doesn’t like you.” Beatrice was only a little older than they were, but that didn’t matter. 

“You’re just jealous because girls don’t hit on you, Cal.” She told him. “Don’t feel bad, it’s only because they can’t see you.” 

“Wow, I’ve never heard a short joke before.” Cal shot back, taking a long drink. “You must have had a lot of help to come up with that one. Besides, I don’t want girls to hit on me.”

“Well, I think someday you’ll understand what boys and girls do when they’re alone with each other and then you’ll change your mind.”

Mick must have seen something on Cal’s face because he leaned forward. “Cal…”

“What do boys and girls to when they’re alone with each other, Beatrice?” Cal asked, alcohol making him brazen. “I asked Wes last night but he wouldn’t take my cock out of his mouth to answer me.” 

Mick put a hand on his forehead and sighed. Wes held back a smile and fixed Cal with an almost amused look. Cal glared at Beatrice, who was silent, looking between Wes and Cal. After a moment she smiled. “The two of you, huh? I can’t say I’m surprised. How does your third wheel feel about this?” She asked Mick.

Lifting his head, Mick looked at Cal in a very unimpressed way before turning to Beatrice. “This cart was built with three wheels.” 

Beatrice just laughed. “Of course it was. I don’t suppose I can count on it’s just that you’re together too often and are just blowing off steam until you meet the right girl?”

“Nope.”

“Sorry.”

“Screw off.”

“Okay.” She raised her hand to signal the server. “Let me buy you some drinks in congratulations. Frankly, the three of you are perfect for each other and I couldn’t be happier for you.”

“You’re lying.” Cal accused.

“Are you going to turn down free drinks?”

“No.”

“Then shut up.” Beatrice put in the order and waited until the drinks came to the table. “To you guys.” She toasted. “So what are you trying to sell?”

“It’s a secret.” Cal grumbled, drinking.

Beatrice rolled her eyes and looked at Mick. “Magical?” Mick nodded. Cal kicked him under the table.

“Stop sharing secrets with the enemy.”

“She’s not the enemy.” 

“Remember when she tied us to that tree and stole the thing?”

“That was business.” Beatrice told him. 

“There were wolves!” 

“Anyway. There’s a man here in town named Theodore. Don’t know a last name but he shouldn’t be hard to find. He likes magical shit. He can’t use any of it because he’s not magical, but he’s got too much money so he collects. You should talk to him.” 

“I’m not going to talk to him, that’s a terrible idea.” Cal said, glaring down into the alcohol. He liked alcohol. It never tried to make him feel better when he was mad. 

“He’s trying to be mad right now. We’ll talk to him.” Wes said. “Thank you.”

“I make those decisions.” Cal reminded him.

“He’ll have changed his mind in the morning, plus he’ll probably think it was his idea.”

“I can hear you.” Cal kicked Wes now. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here.” 

“Be quiet and drink, Cal.”

“Okay.” 

Cal stayed quiet and drank while the other two sat and had a great time with Beatrice. Eventually he broke his silence had ended up having a pretty good night himself. He went to bed very lightheaded and a little miffed with Wes and Mick because honestly, why did they have to make it so hard for him to be in a bad mood?


	6. Even Objectively Suspicious Opportunities are Still Opportunities

“A pleasure doing business with you.” Theodore said, and he smiled in a very attractive way that oozed insincerity to Cal. Theodore had, as Beatrice had said, been interested in purchasing a magical orb of unknown usage, but she hadn’t mentioned that he was one of those handsome people who knew they were handsome and knew that other people knew as well. He was smarmy in a way that Cal was too hung over to deal with even though his whole drinking escapade had been two days ago now. 

“And you as well, sir.” Cal said, as cordially as he could. Slavery was legal here in Merket and it wasn’t hard to notice that most of Theodore’s slaves seemed to be not a whole lot older than Cal himself was. He’d made the right call not bringing Mick or Wes, he thought, even if they’d been unhappy about it. “I hope you have more success figuring out what it does than I did.” 

Theodore smiled. “I have resources in that area. And if not, I’m sure it will make a nice piece of jewelry.” Cal internally shrugged. It wasn’t up to him what Theodore did with the thing; he’d been paid (more than he’d expected) and that was all that mattered to him. 

“I wonder.” Theodore said, and Cal refocused his attention. “How does someone as young as you get into such a dangerous business?”

“Curiosity.” Cal didn’t like it when clients asked him about his own life. But Theodore had already paid him, so there was that at least. “I wanted to see the world and everything in it. I’ve always enjoyed the idea of magical relics, so I decided to go find some.”

“All by yourself?” Theodore raised perfectly shaped eyebrows and Cal thought that people only had perfectly shaped eyebrows if they spent time making sure they were that way. “Surely you must have a team? Companions?”

“I do, sir.” Cal said, and Theodore smiled. “They regret that they couldn’t be here today.”

“Perhaps I shall meet them another time. Would you like something to drink?”

“No, thank you.” Cal’s creep-sense was starting to go off even more loudly than it had been before. “I really shouldn’t take up any more of your time, sir.”

“Nonsense, we’ve hardly begun to speak.” Theodore gestured for Cal to follow him into another part of the unnecessarily opulent house. Marble wasn’t even mined anywhere near here but he’d found enough to do all his floors in. Theodore showed him into a sitting room, where another slave was pouring wine. “Please, sit down.”

“I’m sure you’re very busy.” Cal insisted as he sat down, wishing that social niceties hadn’t been drilled into him quite so thoroughly. He wasn’t sure what Theodore did, but surely one didn’t get this rich without at least a little work. “Really, there’s no need for you to waste any more of your time on me.” The slaves were all fairly modestly dressed, but some of them had a look about them that Cal knew to associate with bedslaves. 

“I hardly think talking to an industrious young man like yourself is a waste of time.” Theodore smiled, took a cup of wine and gestured for Cal to take the other. “Do you know what it is that I do, Cal?”

“No, sir.” Cal admitted. “But you seem to have done it very well.” 

Theodore laughed. “I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say I’m a merchant of sorts.”

‘Of sorts’ made it sound to Cal like he was a smuggler, but he decided sipping the wine would be better than saying that. “I’ve never seen a merchant with a gold fountain in his entry hall.” He commented instead.

“As you said, I’ve done it very well.” Theodore wasn’t actually drinking, Cal noticed, which was okay because he wasn’t really either, just lifting the cup to his lips and pretending. He didn’t deal with clients drunk, even just a little. “I suspect that you and I are similar.” 

“How so?”

“When you decided to become a relic hunter, surely there were people who told you it was a bad idea? You’re too young, you’ll get hurt, that sort of thing?” Cal nodded, thinking that he should really write a letter to his parents and his brothers, and Theodore kept talking. “But you did it anyway. You found something you wanted and you figured out a way to do it.”

“I suppose you could put it that way.”

“I’m the same way. When I want something, I figure out a way to get it.” 

“And what is it that you want at the moment, if you don’t mind my asking?” 

Theodore smiled again, and Cal thought that he smiled altogether too much. “At the moment I want you.”

“I’m not for sale.” Cal said, a little more sharply than he’d intended.

All it got him was a chuckle. “A pity, though maybe you’ll change your mind someday. What I actually meant was that I’d like to _hire_ you. You and your team.”

“Ah.” Cal sat back, looked at Theodore over the wine cup because that was something he’d always wanted to do. The chair made him look tiny, though, so that sucked. “Well, our services are certainly for sale. You’re looking for a relic?”

“Several, as a matter of fact, but one to start with. There was once a family to the east of here called the Faran family.”

“There’s not anymore, though?”

“No, they’ve all died, sadly.” Theodore didn’t sound that sad. “In their possession was a powerful relic that looks like an ordinary stone. Because it looked ordinary, it wasn’t taken care of with the rest of their estate and it’s gone missing. I would like it found, and I would like to own it.”

Cal nodded, thinking about that. ‘To the east of here’ was a pretty big place seeing as how they were two days from the west coast. And a lot of things looked like ordinary stones, including actual ordinary stones, of which there were millions. “Is there anything else you can tell me about this stone? Otherwise I’m just looking for a rock in a world that’s literally made of them.”

Theodore acknowledged that with a tilt of his head. “True. This one will appear somewhat distinctive. It may be…coloured. If you’ve any magic practitioners in your team, they will be able to detect great power emanating from the stone.” 

“Still, that’s a lot of ground to cover.”

“There is a chance that the stone may also have the power to raise the dead.” 

Cal blinked, straightening. “Well. That’s certainly a much bigger hint. Now we’ve got a chance of finding it.” He went through everything he’d heard lately, trying to remember if any of it pertained to the dead being raised. Not off the top of his head, that was for sure. 

“Good.” Theodore gestured to the slave, who retreated to the far end of the room and came back with a wooden box, which he opened for Cal. It was full of gold, nearly twice what he’d been paid for the orb. “Will this be sufficient for a first payment? With a promise for twice that when you bring me the stone?”

Cal pretended to consider it calmly, but was internally singing a song. That was _a lot_ of money. Beatrice hadn’t been kidding when she’d said Theodore had more money than he knew what to do with. “Yes, I’d say that’s…sufficient.” 

Theodore nodded, and the slave placed the box in Cal’s lap before moving away quietly. “Good. Now, I don’t need it this week or even this year, but I would appreciate as much speed as you can manage in this.”

“It will take a while.” Cal mused, thinking. If they could find out where the Faran family’s estate had been, that would be the best starting place. “But you have my promise that all of our attention will be directed on this, sir.”

“Very good.” Theodore stood. “Now, I’m sure you want to get back to your teammates and get started. I shall not waste anymore of your time. Unless you’d like to stay the night?”

“No.” Cal said quickly. Theodore was still creepy, no matter how wealthy he was. “I’ll be back when we’ve found the stone.”

“Bring your teammates. I’d like to meet them.”

“I’m sure they’d like to meet you too.” Cal lied, shaking Theodore’s hand before gathering up far more gold than he’d expected to make coming here and leaving. He resisted doing a little dance until he was well out of sight of the manor that the man lived in. But he only danced for a second, because he had to go back and show Wes and Mick why _he_ was the one with all the good ideas.


	7. You Shouldn't Go to Crazy Old Ladies for Advice unless You're Prepared to Hear Something Unpleasant

“This is a terrible idea.”

“It is not.”

“I didn’t mean this.” Mick said, gesturing at the street they were walking on. “I meant _this._ ” Now he waved all around them at the city of Two Oaks, where the Faran family had once held a seat. “Cal, there’s no way we’re going to be able to find a stone in the entire world.”

“First of all, you’ve had nearly two weeks to process that we were doing this, and second of course we’re going to be able to find it. It raises the dead, how hard can it be?”

“Maybe if the Faran family hadn’t all died _a hundred years ago,_ Cal. Nobody knows what happened to them because nobody was even there.” 

“He makes a good point, Cal.” Wes said, frowning around at the steadily shadier neighbourhoods they were walking through to get where Cal was leading them. “All the stories that we’ve heard have all been rumours and folk tales about a massacre and a demon.”

“Yes, thank you for conveniently summarizing the last three days to me, since I just suddenly started paying attention to what we were doing in the last few minutes.” Cal said irritably. Normally Wes didn’t say much during the information-gathering phase of an operation. “And yes, a hundred years is a long time.” He admitted, thinking that Theodore might have mentioned that to him back in Merket. “That’s why we’re going to see a hundred and nine-year-old lady.” 

“A claim which is highly suspect.” Mick reminded him. “And even if she is somehow magically that old, she’s likely senile and even if she’s _not,_ how much is she going to remember about something that happened when she was a child?” 

“Let’s find out.” Cal said, pointing to a little shack on the side of the road with an emaciated old cat sitting on the roof, which was exactly what had been described to him when he’d been told about this person. 

“Cal…”

“Look.” He turned to Wes and Mick. “If she can’t help us, then we’ll talk about giving it up, okay?” Though he would still try to convince them to keep at it—at least listen around for rumours of the dead walking. “I’ll give Theodore back his money and we’ll go on another job. But can we at least exhaust what leads we do have before we give up?”

“I’m not saying we should give up.” Mick told him. “I’m just saying that I find all of this very suspicious. This Theodore doesn’t know you from anyone and he gives us all this money to find something that nobody can find—and how does he even know it exists in the first place? You’re the one who usually gets upset when a client doesn’t tell us the whole story, what’s going on?”

Cal didn’t answer immediately, thinking about that. “You’re right. But, Mick, he just handed me a lot of money. I get that he’s rich and stupid, but you don’t throw away that kind of gold unless you really believe it’s worth it. We’re going to find this thing.”

“That’s your answer?” Mick was almost smiling. “Money?”

“What? I like money.” Cal wasn’t sure that was the entire answer, but whatever else there was to it was something he couldn’t quite articulate.

“You’re such an idiot.” Mick shook his head. “You’re lucky I love you. Let’s go, then.” 

“What, just like that?”

“Yes, just like that. I trust your judgement, terrible as it is at times.”

“Most of the time.” Wes added, helpfully.

“Shut up…wait, you love me?” Cal asked, only now hearing what Mick had said.

“Well…” Mick looked away. “Yes.”

“Okay.” Cal wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Um. We’re going in now.” He sighed, turning back to the shack and headed determinedly for the door. The cat hissed at him as he approached, but Cal knocked on the door anyway. Nobody answered and he eased it open. “Hello? Sorry to intrude.” 

“No, you aren’t.” A cracked and papery voice said from the gloom inside the shack. There was no light except what was coming from holes in the walls or ceiling and the low fire that was burning in the centre of the singular room. It was cluttered and dirty and the whole thing smelled like frogs, and Cal could just make out a huddled form sitting against the back wall. “I’ve been waiting for you three, for Armageddon’s Vanguard.”

“What?” That sounded…ominous. 

“Come in, come in, you’re letting the air out.” Cal stepped inside and Wes and Mick followed him in. Together they crowded up more than half the shack, and Wes’s head brushed the roof. The woman seemed to be sitting, so Cal sat opposite her. “You’re here to ask me about the Faran family, about what happened to their crown jewel. Your friends question the wisdom of asking a woman older than dust about anything, but I know, I know. I was there.”

“Ma’am, were you watching us earlier?” Mick asked. He was wiggling his fingers just a little bit in that way that meant he was doing magic. 

“Of course!” The woman declared. “I’ve been waiting for you, I just said. You needn’t worry about your spells of protection, Gatekeeper of Shadow, they are intact. When you get to be my age, you just know these things.”

“Gatekeeper of Shadow?” Cal asked.

“I’m sure you’ve heard many tales of the Faran family and their demise.” The woman went on, as if she hadn’t heard Cal. “They were murdered by the Olarks when they took over, or perhaps by a demon they’d summoned with dark magic. Foolishness. I’ve no time for foolishness at my age. The Farans weren’t killed for politics or by demons.”

“Then who were they killed by?”

“A human, a man. He wanted their jewel, so he butchered them, starting with the children. They used to say he drank their blood, but that’s foolish. He did bathe in it, though.” 

“What was his name?” Wes asked, glancing at Cal.

“I’m getting to that part, Child of Misfortune.” The woman said irritably, still looking at Cal. Wes fell oddly silent at that. Cal was starting to think this had been a bad idea. “He had to kill the whole family, you see. He wanted the stone, the Jewel of Undeath, it was called at the time, though it’s no more than a painted rock. And if a Faran was still living, he could never use its power.”

“He could have just killed them.” Cal said vaguely. “He didn’t have to torture them.”

The woman cackled. “Yes, perhaps. But you would think that because you are a good person, now wouldn’t you? I hope you stay that way, or it would be a bad omen for the world. He was an evil man with an evil purpose.”

“What was his purpose?” 

“He sought to resurrect the ancient gods.” Beside Cal, Mick shifted suddenly. “But he never succeeded—and a good thing, the ancient gods were vicious things, better off dead. He was killed by a child, they say, in a swamp out east.”

Thinking about a map, Cal tried to figure out where that had been. There was a swamp down near the border, he thought, before wondering if a hundred years might have changed the landscape enough that where a swamp had been before was now a lake or something. 

“It’s time for you to retrieve the Jewel of Undeath.” The woman said. “Its siblings are waking again—one has been stolen, one is bound, one is in the hands of the Architect and the fifth is imperiled. You must find it and bring it to the Oligarch.” 

“We’re trying.” Cal said, though he had no idea who that was or what she was talking about anymore. “This man. What was his name?”

“The Gatekeeper knows, doesn’t he?” The woman said, still not looking away from Cal. 

“It was Matthias, wasn’t it?” Mick asked quietly.

“That was it, yes. Not an impressive man in body, but to look at him, you knew he was dangerous.” 

“Okay.” Mick said, and Cal thought he sounded shaken. “I know where we need to go. Thank you.” 

“It isn’t your job to open the gate.” The woman said to Mick, as he stood. “But be sure you step aside when the Keyholder approaches.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Mick turned, pulled the door open. Cal and Wes stood as well, though Cal couldn’t take his eyes off the woman’s form. She looked like a wraith wrapped in skin. 

Wes put a hand on Cal’s shoulder. “Come on. Thank you.” He said to the woman.

“Some things are better off broken, Child of Misfortune.” Wes just grimaced and turned to the door, pulling Cal behind him.

“Hold on.” Cal said, after they had stepped outside. The woman was still looking at him. “What’s my name?”

“Cal, it doesn’t matter, come on.”

“No, I want to know.” It did matter, though Cal wasn’t sure why. “If Mick is the Gatekeeper of Shadow and Wes is the Child of Misfortune, what’s my name? Who am I?”

The small beam of light that was illuminating the woman’s crooked and wrinkled mouth showed a lopsided smile. “You don’t know your own name? You’re the Doomed One, aren’t you?”

For just a moment, Cal felt like he’d missed step coming down the stairs. “Okay.” He said, not sure how else to answer. “Thank you.” 

“Vicious things, they were.” The woman said. “Vicious, terrible things.” Cal let Wes pull him backwards and close the door. The cat hissed at them again. 

“I learned about Matthias the Mad at the academy.” Mick said, but Cal wasn’t really listening. “If she was telling the truth, I think I know where we need to go.” 

“Okay.” Cal’s mind was still in the shack. 

“I wouldn’t read too much in to most of what she said.” Wes put a hand on Cal’s shoulder and led him away, the three of them turning up the street back towards the more kept up parts of Two Oaks. “She may have known a few things, but she was obviously mad. I don’t trust people who speak in riddles.”

“Yeah, she was nuts.” Cal agreed, though he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t shake the feeling of…something. “Okay, let’s go strategize, plan our next move.”

_You’re the Doomed One, aren’t you?_


	8. Rest Stops Can Help Ease Exhaustion from a Long Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to break up the weirdness of the last chapter and the intensity of the next few with some pointless sex, hahahaha.

“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to us.” Cal declared, sinking a little deeper into the hot water. 

“I want to disagree, but I can’t think of why at the moment.” Mick muttered, not opening his eyes. 

“Because it’s cold, that’s why. It’s cold and we found something warm.”

“Warm?” Wes asked, in between him and Mick. “Hot, you mean.”

“Whatever.”

Cal was counting it as a minor miracle that they’d found this cave, naturally warmed by whatever was underneath it, with hot pools of water that rose up from underground. He hadn’t counted on a hot bath until they were well past the mountains and was wondering if he could convince Wes and Mick to just sort of…live here, forever. 

Cal didn’t do well in the cold. 

“Alright.” Wes stood and climbed out of the pool, and Cal took a moment to appreciate the sight of water dripping down his body. “You two can sit in here and boil, but some of us are not meant to be a turnip.” 

Cal shared a quick glance with Mick and realized he wasn’t the only one enjoying the view. Without a word, Cal got out of the water as well. “You don’t have to get out, Cal. Go soak.”

“But I’m worried you’ll get cold by yourself.” Cal pressed up close to Wes and licked a rivulet of water from his chest. He made sure his erection was pressed against Wes’s leg. “I’ll help you stay warm.”

“I don’t really need help staying warm.” Wes teased, pulling away from Cal. “I’m plenty warm as it is.”

Cal narrowed his eyes, reached down and grabbed Wes. “No you aren’t. You’re all shrunken down here; that’s a sign of cold.”

“Cute.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you.” Cal slid down onto his knees and licked a drop of water off Wes’s cock as well. Mick had gotten out of the water and behind Wes, and wrapped his arms around Wes’s torso, kissing him quietly on the neck. 

Cal took Wes in his mouth while Wes was still mostly soft, which certainly wasn’t going to last long at this rate. Not if Cal had his way, anyway. And Cal often got his way in these situations.

Sure enough, soon Cal had more of Wes in his mouth than he had room for, and he relaxed his throat to give Wes more space to grow into. “God, Cal…” Wes panted. “I wish I knew how you did that…” Cal just hummed in answer and got another groan in reply. 

Once Wes was completely hard, Cal pulled back until just the tip was between his lips, and then plunged back down again, working his tongue up and down Wes as he did. 

“Mick…God…” Cal didn’t stop, but he did try to look up at Wes and with an eyebrow raised. Not that he was jealous or anything, but Mick wasn’t the one with his mouth on Wes’s cock. 

Wes made a sound that seemed like one of discomfort and suddenly Mick’s hand on was the back of Cal’s head, gently pushing him all the way down and keeping him there. “Focus on Cal, Wes. Just think about Cal for a minute.” 

_What the hell?_ Cal thought, but he kept his tongue going anyway. 

“Here, okay.” Mick’s hand was removed from Cal’s head after a second. “Cal, get off for a second.”

Frowning, Cal pulled back. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Here, Wes, let’s lay down.” 

As Mick and Wes lay down on the stone floor together, Cal caught sight of what had been going on without him—Mick had three of his fingers buried inside Wes. “What the…”

“Wes wants you to fuck him, Cal.” Mick said, making eye contact with Cal.

Cal was struck and didn’t say anything for a second. “He does?”

“I do.” Wes nodded, waved Cal down. “We talked about it already.”

“When was this?” When in the world had they had time to talk about something like that, and why had they done it without him. “Where was I when you did this?”

“It was this morning when you were scouting.” Mick said. “Surprising you with things has worked well for us in the past so we thought we’d give it a try. Come on, we already did all the work.” 

“We’re going to talk about your habit of keeping things from me.” Cal told them, but even as he did he was moving in between Wes’s legs, not able to take his eyes off of Mick’s long fingers.

Those fingers pulled out all of the sudden and Cal kept looking at the spot where they’d been, reaching out as if to replace Mick’s hand with his. “Come on, Cal.” Wes was panting, and he grabbed Cal’s arm to pull him closer.

“Right.” Cal had thought about this—rather more than he was willing to admit even to Wes and Mick. Clumsily he climbed forward, one hand on Wes’s thigh to steady himself, and guided himself inside Wes.

Cal let out a little choked noise as he entered Wes, not expecting the warmth. He forced himself to go in slowly because he didn’t want to hurt Wes, who had his eyes closed and was breathing heavily. Mick helped by leaning down and tonguing Wes’s swollen and red shaft. 

Wes came just a Cal made it the whole way in, filling the cavern with a loud groan. Mick pulled away while Wes was shooting, only to resume licking once Wes had finished. “Keep going, Cal.” Wes panted.

Cal nodded and started to experimentally thrust in and out, scraping his knees on the floor and not caring. His whole body was shaking with the sensations from what was happening, and he knew he wasn’t going to last very long like this. “I’m not going to…Wes…”

“Go, Cal.” Wes whispered, and Cal went, the breath leaving him as his orgasm came, his body stiffening and tightening as he shot inside Wes. 

Cal nearly collapsed when he was done, and he teetered to one side when he pulled out, supported by Mick. “Here.” Mick said, guiding him back to lay beside Wes, head near Wes’s waist. “Switch with me. Wes, I’m going to go in now, okay?”

Wes nodded, his breathing short. “Yes. Yes, Mick.”

Lifting his head and feeling hot, Cal watched Mick slide inside of Wes and whinged just a little. He probably could have come just from watching that if he hadn’t just a few seconds ago. Instead, he lowered his head and, staring down Wes’s erection again, took it back in his mouth.

He could still taste Wes’s previous emission on the tip and Cal resisted his urge to avoid it, instead making the decision that this time he would try to swallow. Mick’s thrusting was making Wes move his hips up and down, pushing himself right into Cal’s mouth. 

After a minute or so Mick let out a cry and pressed in as far as he could go, and Cal redoubled his efforts, rewarded a second later when Wes started to tap his head, their usual signal to pull off. 

Cal didn’t pull off, listening at Wes groan again and feeling the first splatter of cum in his mouth. It was hot and he swallowed, and more filled his mouth and Cal gagged, pulling off and coughing, letting Wes finish on his chest. 

“You okay?” Wes asked. “I didn’t mean to…”

“No, I did it on purpose.” Wes’s semen was dribbling down Cal’s chin but he didn’t make any effort to wipe it off. “Are you okay? You’re the one who…”

“It was great.” Wes looked half-asleep and he waved Cal up to rest on his shoulder. Mick joined them on the other side. “It was amazing.” 

“You were amazing.” Cal muttered, and Mick made a noise of agreement. “We need another bath.”

“Later.” Wes held them both tighter and Cal reached across Wes’s chest to grab Mick’s hand as well. 

“Yeah.” Cal could feel himself drifting off as well. “You guys are the best.” 

“We know.” Mick sounded as satisfied as Cal felt and Wes looked. 

Cal didn’t bother to reply. Wes had already fallen asleep so Cal followed his lead, thinking that staying here in this place forever might just be the best idea he’d ever had.


	9. Sometimes Those Funny Feelings are Actually Important and You Should Listen to Them

“I think we’re being followed.”

“That’s because you’re paranoid.” Mick said, counting out coins without looking up at Cal. He passed them over to the man they were buying meat from with a nod. 

“That is true, but I don’t think that’s what it is.” Cal looked around at the crowd in the marketplace, but he didn’t see anyone who looked suspicious or anything. “I just have a feeling.” He’d had it for a day or so before they’d arrived here in Thorndale, which was the closest town to where they were going. 

“You being famously intuitive.” Mick muttered, packing away the meat in their bag. “You’re just nervous.”

“I don’t get nervous.”

“You do when we’re following information other than yours.” Mick said calmly. “We’re going into the swamp based on what I said and you’re not sure what’s going to happen, so you’re nervous.”

“That’s…” Cal turned away from the crowd. “No, that isn’t true. Mick, I trust you, why would you think I don’t?”

“I didn’t say you didn’t. You’re just a paranoid control freak, that’s all.” Mick smiled.

“Sorry to butt in, boys. Did you say you were headed into the swamp?” The meat seller asked, and Cal found himself oddly surprised that the man had been listening—even though they’d been having their conversation right in front of him. 

Cal nodded. “Yes, sir. We’re looking for an artefact in there.” Mick insisted that Matthias the Mad had disappeared into this nameless swamp and never been heard from again. If he’d truly had this stone that he’d taken from Two Oaks, it was in the swamp somewhere.

And boy was Cal looking forward to spending God knew how long hunting for a rock in a swamp that went on for miles. They’d seen huge centipedes that seemed to live under the town, probably coming from the swamp. Cal’s excitement to see what else lived there could have been measured in a thimble. 

“Pardon for sticking my nose into your lives, but I wouldn’t.” The man said. “It’s dangerous in there. It don’t have a name, but we call that place the Swamp of Death. Hardly anyone ever comes out alive.” 

“Hardly anyone?” Cal asked. “So some people do?” He had planned to go searching for information just as soon as they were done stocking up on supplies, but now was as good a time to start as any. 

“Sure, and what they tell the rest of us convinces us not to try it ourselves. It’s full of snakes and hornets and pockets of gas.” 

“Joy.” Cal sighed. “Don’t worry—we’re professionals, we’ll be careful.” 

“That’s not the problem, boys. Snakes and gas can be avoided easily enough. It’s everything else you should be worried about. Those who come out say that those who don’t, they get up and try to stop you from leaving—after they’ve died.” 

Cal’s attention perked at that. “Wait. The dead are walking in there? Like, is that just a story people tell or are there actually dead people moving around?”

The vendor shrugged. “I’ve never been in there myself—because I’m not insane. But everyone who comes out of there says dead people get up and attack. There’s also supposed to be an abandoned house there somewhere, though why someone would live in there is beyond me.”

“Yes!” Cal whooped, leaping into an impromptu hug with Mick and drawing a few eyes on the street. “We found it! Told you.”

“Yeah, you did. Get off me.” 

“Right.” Cal cleared his throat and stepped away, trying to contain his excitement. “Thank you for your concern, sir.” He said to the vendor, who was now looking at them both in clear confusion. “But my team and I will be quite fine. The item we’re looking for is in that swamp somewhere.” 

“Maybe, and excuse me for saying so, but anyone who goes in that place is doomed.”

_Doomed._

The word choice gave Cal pause even if the warning itself didn’t. “Doomed?” He shook his head, smiled again. “We’ll be fine. If we can get that stone out of there, it might even stop the dead from rising.”

“We don’t know that.” Mick said immediately.

“We don’t, but there’s a chance.” Cal turned back to the merchant. “Thank you very much, sir.” He put an extra coin on the counter. “For your information and your concern.” He turned away from the counter before the man could warn them off anymore, and Mick followed him away and into the crowd. “We need to find Wes.”

As Cal spoke the crowd seemed to part and they saw him, approaching them with a wave. “Guys.” He said, when they were a little closer. “I was filling the canteens at a well and I heard someone say that dead people are walking around inside that swamp.”

“I know, it’s great, isn’t it?” Cal grinned, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet. 

Wes frowned, looked from Cal to Mick. “Does ‘great’ have another meaning that I don’t know about?” 

Mick just shook his head and Cal punched both of them. “Come on, we’re going to find the thing and be rich. It’s great.” 

“You heard the part about zombies, right?” Mick asked. 

“Yeah, yeah, the living dead, unholy horrors, whatever. We found the thing.” Even if they hadn’t laid hands on it yet, Cal could feel the thrill that came after a particularly hard search already. 

Followed by a chill on the back of his neck. 

He turned, looking out at the crowd suspiciously. Nobody looked out of place and the only one who seemed to be paying attention to them was a scrawny alley cat that turned away as soon as Cal laid eyes on it. “Cal?”

“I still think someone’s following us.” 

“And I still think you’re paranoid.” 

“Yeah…” Cal scanned the crowd again and didn’t see anything again. 

“I’ll check, just in case.” Mick said, putting a hand on Cal’s shoulder.

Wes nodded. “Me too. You two get going to the inn and start planning. I’ll double back and make sure we’re alone.”

Cal nodded. “Thanks, guys. You’re the best.”

“We know.” Wes broke away from them and he and Mick headed back to the inn where they were staying.

Cal wasn’t exactly sure how to plan a retrieval while not getting killed by zombies, but he knew they’d pull it off. He had the best team there was, after all.


	10. Sometimes You Only Get to Know the End of the Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is longer than my usual fare and I thought about splitting it in two or something, but honestly I'm so happy with how it turned out that I just couldn't. I write every day and this is my favourite thing that I've written in ages. So I hope everyone enjoys it. :)

“This is really boring.” Cal grumbled. 

“You find the death swamp boring?” Mick asked, from behind Cal. “I’m pretty sure we’ve discovered fifteen new species of horrifically venomous snakes, we spent three hours yesterday hiding from a swarm of hornets the size of small mice, and Wes got high when he stepped into that pocket of gas and thought we were his kids for most of a day.”

“For the record I did not appreciate you trying to rock me to sleep.” Cal said, for the fourth or fifth time. He was never, ever, ever going to admit that Wes singing to him had been kind of nice. 

“You made a cute toddler, Cal.”

“Shut up.” Cal threw the finger over his shoulder and kept walking, cautiously moving aside low-hanging vines as they moved forward. “Yes, it’s boring. It’s all this mundane swamp bullshit. I came here for zombies. Where are the zombies, guys?” 

“I’m sure we’ll find them soon.” Mick said in a clearly unimpressed tone.

“Or they’ll find us.” Wes deadpanned. 

“Yeah, yeah. Ominous music and sinister shadows. I came here to find the living dead, and all we’ve found is snakes and bugs.” Cal sighed. “Screw this. I’m giving up treasure hunting and I’m going to run a ranch instead.”

“You hate cows.”

“That’s because they’re creepy. I’ll have goats instead. They don’t taste as good, but they’re a lot more…”

“Cal!” Cal choked a little as he was yanked backwards by the collar, but any thought he had of reprimanding Wes for manhandling him quickly vanished when he saw the hand, now in front of him, that had darted out from the greenery to grab him. It was rotting and half-skeletal, and as Cal recognized this the arm came after it, followed by the body, shambling out from the vines. 

Cal smiled. “Found you, you fucker.” The zombie was in bad shape as zombies (Cal assumed) tended to be, missing its jaw and eyes, most of its skin rotted away. Mick lifted it from the ground with his magic and the zombie rattled in an agitated way. “They’re supposed to moan.” Cal said, a little disappointed but mostly not. 

“I’m sure it would if it had lungs.” Mick’s voice was hard like ice and he made a gesture, and the zombie contorted as is pressed upon by great weights on all sides, rattling as it was crushed to a pile of glop and bone fragments. 

“Gross.” Cal declared, short sword out and looking carefully around. He didn’t detect any other movement in the plants. “Alright, we’re on the right track. It can’t be much farther.” 

It wasn’t. He pushed through the rest of the trees on the path they were on and came into a wide clearing that was gloomy from swamp gas even if it was open to the sky. In the centre of the clearing was an obviously abandoned house that looked structurally sound to Cal aside from the broken windows, surrounded by a boggy pond that had only one path crossing it. No more zombies were in sight, but… “They’re in the mud.” Wes sounded a little faint. “They’re in the mud waiting for us to cross the path.” 

Cal nodded, glanced back at Wes. “You okay?” 

Wes smiled weakly. “I guess I was expecting it to be like in plays when it’s just a guy in a loincloth and stupid makeup.” 

“Yeah, I don’t think anyone is harbouring secret sexual fantasies about Bones back there.” Cal muttered, only to be on the receiving end of two rather judgemental looks. “Oh come on, like I’m the only one!”

“You definitely are.” Mick said, and Wes nodded. 

“Whatever.” Cal grumbled, and set for to the path, sword out. 

True to Wes’s prediction, the bog started to roil and bubble as they approached and before Cal had even set foot on the path to the house, hands and heads and torsos were lifting out of the mud in ghastly alarm. 

These ones, Cal noted as he stepped onto the path, trusting Mick to magic the worst of them away but slicing at stray hands with his sword as he kept moving, were much better preserved than their sentry in the trees. The mud seemed to have mummified them to an extent, skin stretched over bones and taut muscle like leather. Cal wondered distractedly if the magic that was animating them had helped in that; some of them had clearly been dead much longer than others, with levels of desiccation varying. 

All of this he noticed in the few seconds before the undead were swarming the path. They weren’t moaning like they should have been—zombies, it turned out, hissed, like gas escaping from a vent. “There are a lot of them.” Cal muttered, trying to look everywhere at once, striking out at anything that got too close. Most of them were repelled by an invisible force, but Mick didn’t have time to destroy them like he had before because of their numbers. 

Wes was grunting with exertion and Cal glanced over his shoulder to see him swinging his axe in wide arcs, removing limbs and heads and cleaving torsos, leaving a path of fallen zombies in his wake.

Cal knew he should have been more concerned for their safety but he wasn’t—for all the horror stories associated with them, nothing had indicated that the undead were actually that dangerous against well-armed and magically protected people.

But then, Cal wondered how many of the zombies had thought similar things back when they were alive. “They’re protecting the house.” Cal called, realizing belatedly that his being in the front was silly when he was doing the least damage to the creatures. He slashed at the hand of one that reached for his leg and took off some fingers, then kicked it in the face, sending it sprawling back into the mud. “The stone must be in there.” 

A zombie grabbed Cal’s ankle and pulled him to the ground, several hands grabbing him at once as if to tear him apart or pull him into the mud and Cal shouted in instinctive fear, but a sound like a tree being felled filled his ears and all the hands vanished. Wes dragged Cal to his feet with one hand, splitting skulls with the other, and Cal noticed that the zombies around them were now armless. Mick snarled and waved a hand towards the house and a glut of fire shot in a long bar that seared everything, clearing a path for them. “Go.” 

They went, Cal letting Wes lead the way this time until they got to the door of the house. “At least inside there will be walls and hallways.” Cal muttered as he found the door locked and, unperturbed, pulled a lockpick from his sleeve. “Easier to fight.”

“Assuming we can get in.” Wes was now blocking Cal bodily from any more zombies that might try to approach. 

“Of course we can get in.” Cal grinned as he heard the lock click and opened the door cheekily. “Easy.” 

The three of them rushed inside and slammed the door shut behind them, panting. The hissing sounds were blocked off but the zombies immediately started scratching at the doors. Mick laid his hands flat on the wood and concentrated. Cal just assumed he was casting a barrier around the door and didn’t waste time asking. 

“You shouldn’t have come in.” 

Cal started and looked around to identify the source of the quiet voice. They were in an entrance hall, dark and musty but kept up pretty well considering. There was no evidence that plants had grown through the walls or foundation, which Cal would have expected in an abandoned building in a swamp, and even less sign that any animals used the house. 

There was a curved staircase leading up to a second level on one side of the hall and there was a young boy in white standing at the base of the stairs. He was wearing a mottled helmet that would cover half if face if he hadn’t tilted it back and had an empty scabbard at his hip, and he watched Cal, Wes and Mick with sorrow in his eyes. “Sorry to intrude.” Cal said. “Is this your house?” Obviously it wasn’t, though stranger things had happened. 

The boy shook his head. “There are monsters in here.”

“There are monsters out there too.”

“The ones in here are worse.” The boy said sadly. “There are two that are really bad. You’re doomed.”

Cal’s expression tightened. “We’ve been in danger before, we’re good at it.”

The boy shook his head. “You’re going to die.” He said, tears streaking his face. “I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault.”

“I’m sure it’s not…”

“Cal.” Wes put a hand on his shoulder, drawing Cal’s attention for a second. “Who are you talking to?”

“What do you mean? Wes, there’s a kid right there.” Cal indicated the stairs, which were now empty. Faintly, he could hear the sound of footsteps and Cal moved to follow after them. 

This time it was Mick who grabbed him, by the wrist. “Don’t.”

“I need to find him—he’s in danger!” The need to follow after that child had just burrowed into Cal’s chest. He needed to go after him, follow those footsteps.

“You’re being compelled.” Mick said softly, putting a hand on Cal’s forehead. Suddenly the desire to follow the boy was gone and Cal felt dizzy. “I’m guessing you were talking to a ghost.” 

Shaking his head to clear it, Cal frowned. He didn’t like people using magic on him. Especially that insidious sort of mind-magic that could work without anyone seeing it. “A ghost? So this place is haunted too.” Of course it was, Cal figured. 

“Just a guess.” Mick nodded. “You said it was a kid, a young boy? I’m guessing it was Tobias.”

Making the connection, Cal nodded. Mick had told them about Matthias the Mad and his killing spree across the country, culminating with his disappearance into this swamp a hundred years ago. The story went that a boy named Tobias had followed him into the swamp with a rusty sword, and though neither of them had ever been seen again, all the spells Matthias had wrought were suddenly unravelled three weeks later and so it was assumed he’d been killed. 

It looked like Tobias had been killed too. “He’s younger than we are.” Cal muttered, upset at a hundred-year-old crime. 

“Yeah.” Mick sighed. “The necromancy that’s keeping all the zombies animate must have disrupted his soul as well.” 

“I thought ghosts stuck around because of unfinished business or some bullshit.” Cal said, looking around the hall. 

“I’m not an expert.” Mick admitted. “They do, but that’s not the only reason.”

“And this stone.” Wes said. “It’s got so much power that just being here in the house is causing all of this?”

From somewhere they heard sounds of shuffling, and hissing. Mick glanced down a hallway before heading for the stairs. “They’ve gotten into the house.” He said. “And it must. We have to find it to stop all of this—there’s so much necromancy in the air I can’t sense it at all.” 

“Be careful.” Cal warned. “Tobias said there are some in the house too. He said there are two who are worse than the rest. He seemed afraid.” Mick nodded, and Cal, keeping an eye on the bottom of the stairs as they climbed, continued. “Can you undo all of this, though?” He asked, voicing a concern he’d had for a while. “You aren’t a necromancer.”

Mick nodded. “Necromancers are unusual among magic practitioners.” He said after a minute. “As a mage I use threads of power called the Pillars to do magic. Wizards do something similar by manipulating what they call the Base Elements and sorcerers’ power comes from Order and Chaos, which are the Primal Forces. Witches draw their power from the earth itself.” Cal nodded along. Some of this he’d already heard, but some of it was new. Hopefully it eventually led to what he cared about at the moment, though, which was dead people walking around and hissing at them. “The point is we all use foundational powers of the world to do magic. Necromancy harnesses the power of those forces as they’re present in a living body—usually they’re expelled in death. In theory, though, anyone who does magic could do that.”

“Meaning anyone who does magic can become a necromancer.”

“Yes. It’s the only type of magic you have to choose to manipulate.” Mick paused. “Though I think some people are born with just that power, but anyway. The majority of necromancers can also use regular magic like I can. Matthias was a mage, but he must have been a necromancer as well. That’s not in the stories.” That last part was quiet, and Cal wasn’t sure it was for either of them. 

“This is the long way of telling us you can do necromancy, isn’t it?” Wes asked. 

“It’s the long way of explaining that I can probably cancel all of this out if we find the stone.” Mick muttered quietly. 

Cal nodded. “It’s okay, Mick. Don’t worry too much about it, it will be fine.” He didn’t just mean about getting rid of the zombies—necromancy was illegal as far as Cal knew.

Mick, seeming to get what Cal had said, smiled at him.

“So how come we couldn’t see Cal’s ghost?” Wes asked as they came to the top of the stairs. They were in a hallway that intersected with another hallway after about twenty paces. Two closed doors were on one side and stained wallpaper was peeling on both walls. “I mean fine, I can’t see it, but how come you couldn’t?”

“Not sure.” Mick admitted. “Ghosts are fickle. My guess would be that…” He stopped, staring ahead. There was someone standing in the hallway’s intersection, holding a sword and wearing armour. 

And hissing slightly. 

_The ones in here are worse._ Cal thought, watching the zombie. It had been a woman, tall and broad. “She’s better preserved than the ones outside.” Mick muttered. “The necromantic magic is stronger in here.”

“I feel like that’s less important than why she has a sword.” Wes hissed. 

“Because she had one when she died.” Cal kept his voice low. There was a logic to this, he thought. “You don’t get inside this place if you aren’t armed, right?”

“And the ones who die in here get to be the household guards.” Wes said, catching on. “Great.” 

“She’s not moving.” Mick’s voice was quiet, and as he spoke Cal could hear shuffling in the hall beyond. And then the clear sound of metal scraping against something.

“She’s not alone. She wants us to come to her, into a trap.”

“They can’t be that smart.” Wes insisted. 

“Someone’s organizing them.” Cal agreed. Suddenly he could hear hissing and scrabbling from behind them. “They’re coming up the stairs. We can’t stand here all day.” 

“The stone isn’t going to be in a drawer somewhere.” Mick said, glancing at the two doors before returning his gaze to the armed zombie and raising a hand. She raised from the ground with a louder hiss. “Whoever’s in charge of all this is going to have it.” 

“You think it’s Matthias, don’t you?” Cal asked as Mick made a fist and the zombie startled them all by howling like a wounded animal. Another one appeared behind her with a bow, already strung, and an arrow nocked. 

Aimed at Mick.

“Shit.” Cal had only a second to react and if he shoved Mick aside the arrow would hit Wes instead, so he grabbed Mick and spun them around so that his own back was to the archer. A fiery pain in his left shoulder told him a moment later that the archer had hit his mark. 

“Cal!” Mick turned Cal to the side and struck out a hand, a brilliant wave of scarlet flame searing the hallway as it engulfed the two zombies. Looking up, Cal heard the grinding of metal against the floor and the flames dispersed. There were now five zombies standing in the hallway’s intersection, four taller forms in armour in surrounding a smaller one.

The short zombie was wearing stained linen that had once been white, a dented helmet that covered half his face, and holding a rusty sword. 

“Tobias.” Cal whispered, just as the boy raised his sword and pointed it at them, sending a wave of rippling light down the hall. Mick made a startled sound and threw his hands out, and Tobias’s magic collided with a barrier that left the hallway smelling of ashes. The sounds of hissing got louder and Cal glanced over his shoulder to see the monsters from outside approaching them at a shamble. The armed creatures were moving now too, clearly directed by the wave of Tobias’s rusty weapon. “The room, there.” He said, and all three of them hurried for the closest door, forcing it open and slamming it shut behind them. 

The room had been a display room for antiques at some point and contained all sorts of shelves and tables, though there was nothing of any value on them. The ceiling was sagging and there was mould on the carpet, and the room smelled like mildew. Cal pointed towards a heavy looking armoire and Wes nodded, moving over to slide it in front of the door with a series of grunts while Mick waved his hands, placing a barrier. “None of that will keep them out for long.” Mick muttered, turning Cal around and unceremoniously yanking the arrow out from his shoulder. “You need to start wearing chainmail.” 

Cal shouted in pain, but it faded quickly as Mick cast healing magic on him. “Why can Tobias use magic?” He demanded.

“He shouldn’t be able to. I don’t understand it, only the living can touch the Pillars, but that’s what he did, I saw him pull on Dark.” 

“Maybe it wasn’t him.” Wes suggested, looking around the room and not finding another exit. The walls were covered in faded oil paintings of noble-looking people. “He seemed to be controlling the others, but maybe he’s being controlled too.” 

“Two monsters.” Cal muttered, remembering what the ghost had told him before. “We need to get out of here. Wes, pull back the carpet there and hack a hole in the floor.” He could hear the sound of metal scraping just outside the door. “Quickly.” 

Wes nodded and went to do as Cal had said, pulling back the grimy carpet in one corner and having at the old wood floors with his axe. Cal pointed to the ceiling in the opposite corner. “Mick. Make a hole there, and then smear some of the blood from my cut near it. We’ll make it look like we went that way. Hopefully we can fool them for a few minutes at least.” 

The crashing on either side of the room as his friends broke holes for them to escape through almost disguised the banging that he could hear against the door, and the heavy shaking of the armoire, which Cal could only attribute to Tobias trying to get through Mick’s shield. He wondered how long it would hold up and reflected that the zombies or whoever was controlling them would know the layout of the house perfectly, which would make them hard to escape. 

“Done.” Wes said, and Mick nodded. “Let’s go, quickly.” He glanced at the door hurriedly. “You first, Cal.” 

Cal nodded, his shoulder still throbbing from the attack earlier. Mick used a faster but less effective type of healing when they were in the middle of an operation, one that let him move but didn’t totally heal the wound. It was a way of saving energy and given what they were up against, Cal thought it was prudent. He glanced down through the hole and saw what looked like a kitchen, with a stone counter in the centre. He didn’t hear anything and nodded, leaping into Wes’s hole without hesitation. “Make sure you pull the carpet back when you come down.” He called up, sliding down from the counter and looking around. 

There was a little bit of light coming in from two grimy windows on one wall that weren’t big enough to escape through. It was definitely a kitchen, with counters and cupboards all around and an oven attached to the wall in one corner. There were two exits, one leading to the front of the house and one leading into what would be a back courtyard. Both of them showed evidence of having been barricaded at some point, and of those barricades having been breached. Pots and pans and broken furniture were scattered in piles in front of both doors, and there was, Cal saw, old blood dried onto the stone floor and walls in a clear spray pattern. 

There was a walk-in pantry on the other side of the room with the door closed, and Cal headed towards it with his sword out. “Some of our friends upstairs tried to hide in here at some point.” He said to Wes, who had just come down from the hole. Mick was pulling himself down as he spoke. 

Wes looked around the mess of the kitchen and nodded. “It didn’t work.” 

“No.” Cal eased the pantry door open, wincing when it squeaked, and peered inside. Empty shelves and casks and crates, but nothing else. More blood, too. “It didn’t.”

Mick landed awkwardly on the counter and Wes caught him as he started to tumble. He looked back up at the hole, which Cal saw was now covered again, and wiggled a finger. “A small illusion.” He explained. “They probably won’t even look but if they do hopefully they’ll see whole floor.”

Cal wasn’t sure that was a good idea. “Unless Tobias can sense the magic.” 

“That’s why it’s small. And Cal, you can’t do that—that isn’t Tobias. It’s just something using his body as a weapon.” 

“Yeah, I get that.” It was hard not to see their attacker and the ghost who’d warned them as the same person, though. “Matthias.”

“I don’t see how he could still be alive after all this time.” Mick said, but in a tone that suggested that was exactly what he thought. “But I don’t care what kind of power that stone has, there’s no way an inanimate object has this kind of power without someone using it.” 

A huge crash from up above silenced all of them and they all looked up at the ceiling expectantly. Cal jerked his head towards the door that would take them towards the front of the house and all three of them headed for it. If their ruse didn’t work, there was no point in standing around waiting to get caught. 

Someone, at least, had known where they were. “It worked.” The ghost of Tobias said, sounding surprised. “They’re all going up to the third floor to look for you. He’s going to split them up to cover both staircases so that you won’t escape again, but you’re down here.” 

“Good, we have some time.” Cal said, aware this time that Mick and Wes could only hear his side of the conversation. “Is there an attic? If we’re lucky they’ll even look up there; we may have bought as much as half an hour.” 

Tobias nodded slowly. “You have to leave.” He said. “You can leave before he realizes you tricked him. He’s going to be _really_ mad.” 

So it wasn’t just a mindless puppet, Cal thought. Unless Tobias wasn’t talking about his body. “We’re not going to leave.” He told the ghost, who flinched. “We’re looking for something and we can’t leave until we find it.” 

“You _have_ to!” Tobias insisted, face full of worry. “You’re going to die if you stay here.” 

“No, we aren’t.”

“Yes, you are! Everyone who stays here dies!” 

“Tobias.” Cal said calmly, and the ghost started at the use of his name and looked at Cal as if he’d grown a second head. “We aren’t going to die, I promise. But I need you to help us, okay? I know there’s a person controlling them all. Where is he?” 

“No.” Tobias took a step back as if Cal might hurt him. “No, you can’t. He’ll kill you. Why would you want to go to him? He’ll kill you. You’re safe up here, you can leave. He never comes up. He’ll kill you if you go to him. I’m not telling you where he is, you’ll die and then your bodies will wake up and you’ll spend all of time hunting after _me_ with _him_ and…no. I’m not telling you. You _have to leave._ ” 

“Does he know where Matthias is or not?” Mick asked, into what to him must have seemed like a long silence. 

Tobias flinched at that name and Cal reached out as if to pat him. “He’s not going to hurt us, I promise. We aren’t going to die.”

“Living people always make that promise.” Tobias said in a small voice. “And they always break it.” 

“We…”

“No!” Tobias turned and fled, fading into the darkness with the words “Get out” floating in the air behind him. He moved towards the front of the house and the sound of footsteps echoed again in Cal’s head, trailing in that direction, making him want to follow. He took a step that way instinctively before forcing himself to turn around and face his friends. 

“He’s doing it again.” Mick nodded and put his palm on Cal’s forehead, and the sensation faded. 

“Did he tell you where Matthias was?”

“Yeah. He didn’t mean to, but he did. He said we’re safe up here, and that he never comes up. We’re on the main floor right now, so there must be a cellar or a basement.” Cal felt a little bad, like he had somehow tricked the poor ghost or something. 

“The cellar entrance would be in the back of the house.” Wes said. “Probably outside. I bet if we went back through the kitchen and out the other door it would be there.” 

Cal nodded, smiling at Wes. “See, and you say you’re just the muscle.” Wes scowled at him and they retraced their steps, going through the kitchen and into the back courtyard, where sure enough there was a heavy cellar door that covered a staircase leading underground. Cal didn’t open it just yet. “Mick, you’re going to be the main guy down here. You know how useful the rest of us are when there’s magic.” 

He didn’t need to actually voice the question of whether Mick was okay. Mick nodded at him, taking a breath and moving his hands. “Give me a minute, I’m setting up some spells now, just in case.” After a pause of a minute, he said, “it might not surprise you to learn that I’m not the most powerful mage in the world.” 

“It does surprise me, actually.” Cal said, trying not to get too tense as he kept an eye on their surroundings. “I only allow the best on this team. How did you sneak by the screening process?”

“The screening process was you spitting on my hand and declaring yourself my best friend.” 

“Right, that’s fair.” Cal conceded. 

“Anyway. He’s going to be stronger than me. I’m hoping that he’ll be thrown off by me like other people are.” 

“How so?” 

“Most people who can touch two pillars use Shadow in conjunction with either Light or Dark. I can’t touch Shadow but I use Light and Dark just fine. It’s unusual, and when mages see me use my powers they start to form assumptions about what I can do.”

“Only to have you defy them.” Cal said, seeing how that could throw someone off. He’d known that there was something peculiar about Mick’s powers because that was why he’d left the academy instead of staying to peruse higher levels of training—he hadn’t wanted a lifetime of people poking at him to figure out the anomaly, which Cal thought was fair. 

“Yeah. Hopefully he’ll hesitate. I’m ready.” 

Cal nodded, and he and Wes opened the double doors, and let Mick take point as they moved down the cellar stairs. The stairs were slick with moss and condensation, which dripped from the ceiling and walls. The cellar wasn’t that deep, but it smelled like rot. 

They could hear something moving in the darkness. Mick glanced at the two of them and nodded, heading down.

Halfway down the steps the cellar lit up with a bright light that had Cal squinting. “Visitors.” A harsh, rasping voice said. “So rare these days. So rare for anyone to see me of their own accord. Suicidal, I wonder? Or just stupid?” 

Weapons out, they came down into the cellar. Mick’s head just brushed the low roof, and Wes had to crouch a little. Not optimal for fighting. There was a man in the very centre of the room, sitting on the floor in the centre of what looked to Cal like a magic circle. It was ornate and spread across most of the cellar, and it looked to have been etched in dry old blood. The man was wearing black velvet and leaning on a dapper walking stick. He was lean and hawkish and mean-looking. 

And he was dead, a zombie. Even better preserved than Tobias and the others in the house, but pallid and sunken in a way that living people weren’t. “Guess we know how he survived all this time.” Cal muttered. “He didn’t.”

“You turned yourself into the undead.” Mick whispered, as if hoping the corpse somehow wouldn’t hear him. “That’s not even possible, but…why?”

“It was rather more complicated than that, boy.” Matthias the Mad rasped with a chuckle. “A long story, and an old one. Have you come to aid me? News of my efforts has finally spread and you’ve realized I’m not as mad as they claim? It’s about time.”

“No.” Mick shook his head resolutely, even though Cal thought it would be better to play along. “No. Nobody is coming to your aid, Matthias. Your writings were destroyed, your disciples were arrested. You’ve become a cautionary tale for all mages in training. Nobody is ever going to help you. We’re here for the stone.”

“Hah!” Matthias’s voice seemed to crack in a bad imitation of a laugh. “Is that so? Fools. They never understood the nobility in my work. The importance.”

“You call this noble?” Wes demanded, waving around and everything. 

“You’re too narrow-minded to see it. Well, I’m not like to waste time explaining. You’ll aid me after you’ve died, just like the rest. The stone is mine. You wouldn’t know what to do with it if you had it.” Matthias’s sunken eyes seemed to glint. “Unless you think to fight me, boy?”

“I do.” Mick declared, seeming to stand taller than Cal had ever seen even with the low ceiling. “I’ll finish what Tobias started.” 

Now Matthias’s laugh held anger. “Stupid hick child. A stableboy, he was. He thought he could outsmart me. He didn’t understand intelligence. He thinks he can wait me out. He doesn’t understand patience. I even offered him power and he didn’t understand that either. And neither do you if you think to kill me. I’m stronger than you’ve ever dreamed of.” 

And, Cal thought vaguely, far less original as well. 

“Maybe.” Mick said, raising his hand. “But only as long as that spell you’re sitting in is intact.” 

Matthias jerked and the air around them seemed to erupt in screaming, sending Cal and Wes to the ground, hands covering their ears to blot it out. Mick snarled, a loud bang echoing through the cramped cellar, and lines of light snaked towards Matthias, and when those were broken, a wave like what Tobias had thrown at them before. 

A startling display of lights filled the room and then coalesced into three long spears. “What.” Mick said, taking a step back. “All three…”

“Turns out you can learn a lot when you’ve nothing to do but practice for decades.” Matthias sneered, and the lights speared out at the three of them. Mick shouted, waved a hand, and Cal felt engulfed by a flowing cold that carried him away, sunk the world in a pit of nothing and…

They were standing in the house’s entrance hall. Mick fell to his knees and Cal, nauseous, moved to help him. “I didn’t know you could teleport.” He muttered, glancing to make sure Wes was okay. 

“Neither did I, to be honest.” Mick sounded sick. “He didn’t hesitate. And…he was touching all three Pillars. That’s supposed to be impossible—only the chosen one can do that, and that’s just a stupid story.” 

“I told you.” Cal looked up to see Tobias sitting at the base of the stairs. He was wide eyed and clearly afraid. “I told you not to go to him. I don’t know how he didn’t kill you, but he knows you’re here now and…” He looked up. “He’s told them you’re here. They’re coming down. _He’s_ coming down. You’re doomed if you don’t leave, right now. Please.” 

“I think we should leave, Cal.” Mick said quietly, grabbing Wes’s hand to help himself stand. Obviously he didn’t realize Cal was getting that same advice from somewhere else. 

“Why?” Cal asked. “We haven’t found the stone yet, we can’t leave.”

“Why do you want the stone?” Tobias asked, standing shakily. Ghosts shouldn’t shake, Cal thought. 

“It’s not down there.” Mick said, shaking his head. “Everything we know about it says it’s a powerful necromantic artefact. But he’s only alive because he’s in that circle, drawing energy from somewhere else. If he were to leave, he’d die in a few minutes. There’s no way he has the stone. We have to go, regroup, figure out what to do next.”

“Don’t come back.” Tobias begged. “They’ll be waiting for you. You’ll die.” 

“He doesn’t have it?” Cal asked, mind working. If Matthias didn’t have it, then… He looked up. Turned to the ghost. “Tobias. I need you to give us the stone, please.” 

“I…” Tobias backed up a step, again glancing upwards. “I don’t have it. I don’t.” 

“Yes, you do.” Cal said, taking a step towards the boy. “That’s why they spend all their time hunting you. Because he needs it and you have it.” His expression softened. “You’ve been protecting it from him this whole time, haven’t you? Hiding it, so that he had to stay here. So that they all had to stay here.”

Tears welled up in Tobias’s eyes. “They die if they move too far from it, or from him. That’s why they need to be in the same place. If you take it they’ll be able to follow you. Into the world and they’ll kill everyone. Even if you hide it they’ll know it’s gone, and…”

Cal dug into his pocket and found a stone he’d picked up earlier, tossed it to Mick over his shoulder. “They won’t know it’s gone.” 

“The decoy spell?” Mick asked, and Cal nodded. “That could work. If you’re worried they’d sense us taking it and follow, if they thought it was still here, at least for long enough for us to get away…”

“Toby.” Cal said, and Tobias’s expression got even more surprised. “Please, can you give us the stone? You don’t need to protect it anymore. We can do that for you now. You don’t have to stay here with them anymore.” 

“Is…” Tobias was visibly shaking, hands clutched in front of himself. “Is it you? Are you…I’m supposed to wait for you. Who are you?”

“My name’s Cal, we’re…” Cal paused, something tugging at his mind. He spoke without really thinking. “We’re Armageddon’s Vanguard.” 

“Cal…” 

“Shh…” Cal held up a hand to silence Wes, keeping his gaze on Tobias. 

Who was looking at him in awe, crying openly now. “You are? Really? I’ve…she told me, the old lady told me to wait for you. To give you the Jewel. I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve been waiting for such a long time.” He ran forward, bawling, and threw himself on Cal, who was surprised to find out that ghosts weren’t entirely ethereal. Tobias didn’t weigh much and touching him was like holding something filled with air, but he was definitely there and Cal reached around to pat him on the back. 

“It’s okay.” He said, as reassuring as he could be. “You’re okay now. I’m sorry it took us so long, Toby. You must have been so scared. You must have been so lonely, Toby. I’m so sorry.” He felt tears running down his own cheeks as well.

“I knew you were coming.” Tobias insisted. “I knew. I knew I just had to wait. But it was so hard…”

“What’s going on?” Mick asked, looking up the stairs. Cal could hear the faint sound of people approaching. And the faintest sound of metal scraping against something. 

“You’re very brave, Toby. You did such a good job. I need you to give us the Jewel now, okay?”

Tobias nodded, stepping back and wiping at his ghostly face. “Are you going to kill them? You are, right?”

There was no question who _they_ were. Cal nodded. “Yes, we are.”

Tobias nodded again and, with a deep breath that he didn’t need, clasped his hands together in front of him. “I hid it.” He said. “I knew that they would find it if I hid it here in the house. But…sometimes I can see a bridge, between here and…somewhere else. And I thought…I hid it there.”

“That’s very clever.” Cal said quietly. They never would have found it since it sounded like Tobias had removed it from the physical world altogether. “That’s why they were hunting you.”

Another nod. “Because they wanted me to tell them where it was. They…” Tobias shook his head, not willing to finish. “They’re evil.” He said instead. “They chase me all day and all night. The one…the one in my body, he never sleeps. I can’t ever sleep or he would find me.” 

“You’ll be able to sleep now, I promise.” Tobias talked as if his body was host to something more than just Matthias’s will. Cal was inclined to believe him. 

A light was glowing between Tobias’s hands, and from Mick and Wes’s reactions Cal thought they could see it too. A moment later Tobias opened his hands to reveal a small purple stone that fit neatly into his palm. He handed it to Cal. Mick hissed behind him. “That thing’s really powerful.” He muttered with a curse. 

A sharp sound of metal grating against the wall got their attention. Tobias’s body was at the top of the stairs, and all but leapt down them. Of the zombies with him there was no sign, but Cal guessed he’d run ahead of them to get the stone. He could hear them all now, shuffling and shambling their way down the hall. 

Tobias looked at his body with a defiant, if still fearful expression. “You’re too late.” He said, not a waver in his voice. 

_Time will tell, little thing._ Cal started at the voice, which had clearly come from the corpse despite its mouth not moving. And then Tobias’s body launched at Cal, sword aimed to remove his head. 

Wes intercepted the monster, knocking it off course with a shoulder blow before chasing after him with his axe. Mick grabbed Cal’s hand. “You have to go.” He said. “Wes and I will hold him off while you run.”

“No.” Cal said, one hand still on Tobias’s shoulder. “We’re going to kill him.” 

“Cal!”

“Mick.” 

The look on his face must have convinced Mick, who just shook his head. “Okay. Give me the stone, I bet I can use it to break the animation spell.” Some of the other zombies had appeared at the head of the steps, hissing as they approached. 

Cal nodded, and moved to hand it off. The very second he did, though, a howl seemed to rend the air and the house shook. “Oh, no.” Mick muttered, watching the top of the stairs. 

All the undead gathered up there had collapsed as one, looking like the corpses they were. “No.” Tobias echoed. “He’s coming. But…he never leaves the cellar.” 

“Matthias?”

Tobias and Mick both nodded. “He can’t survive for long outside of that circle, but he’s taken all the power from the zombies for himself. Ten, fifteen minutes…but if he gets the stone…”

“He’ll waste a few of those minutes getting here from the cellar.” Cal said, grabbing Tobias’s wrist and heading for the stairs. “Come on, Toby, come with us. We just need to outrun him until he…”

A loud snap cracked through the entrance hall and Matthais was standing there suddenly, eyes glowing with power, watching Cal and Mick. “Unless he teleports right into the middle of the room.” Cal finished. “Hide, Toby.”

“But…”

“Hide!” Cal repeated, raising his blade. “You didn’t spend all that time waiting so we could get killed in front of you.”

Tobias nodded and moved back a ways, though he remained in sight. The room filled with crackling smoke, which vanished after a moment. “I’ll deal with him.” Mick muttered. “Help Wes.” Cal nodded and moved off, pausing to press the purple stone into Mick’s hand. Mick grimaced but took it. 

“You think you can do anything to stop me, boy?” Matthias asked, derision high in his croaked voice. “You don’t understand power.” 

“I understand that it’s not worth whatever the hell that you’ve done to yourself.” Mick moved his hand, showed Matthias the stone. “And I understand how to undo that.” 

Cal tried to listen to the two of them as he moved to help Wes, but the creature that looked like Tobias got in a heavy kick that had to have been backed by magic and lifted Wes from the ground, slamming him into the staircase. “Shit.” He rushed at the zombie, sword out, and slashed its left shoulder from behind, dancing around to avoid the counter attack and putting himself between Tobias’s body and Wes. 

He remembered what Mick had said earlier about how people were often thrown by the way he used magic. Cal knew that his presence in a fight could often throw people off for a moment as well. It was easy to look at Wes’s size and Mick’s magic and realize who the heavy hitters of this team were, and which member wasn’t the biggest threat.

But Cal could hit pretty heavy when he needed to as well. Sword twirling in his right hand, Cal parried all of Tobias’s blows and kicked him in the knee before moving, forward and backward, fluid and unceasing. If zombies bled, Tobias’s forearms and hands would have been covered in red after the first few seconds. _You think skill with a sword impresses me, child?_

“Who are you?” Cal demanded as he moved. “You’re not human.” And never had been, he was pretty sure.

 _I owe you no explanation._ The zombie gestured and Cal saw the motion for what it was, leapt quickly to one side to avoid the wave of power that was tossed at him. The wound in his left shoulder had opened up again at some point and he could feel blood flowing down his back. Unconnected, he felt a tingling in the back of his mind, as if there were something there trying to assert itself. 

Cal moved back to avoid a fierce kick, but the momentum left him unable to dodge the cascade of lights that blinked into existence all around him. They exploded in a flash and that tingling covered Cal’s entire body for just a moment before he was thrown back, breath failing him for pain as he struck a wall and slumped to the ground. Tobias’s body moved, too quickly, and Cal couldn’t get up fast enough. 

_You’re the Doomed One, aren’t you?_ The memory crashed through his consciousness, freezing him in place. Maybe that was what that meant. He was meant to die here. He was…

With a roar, Wes appeared and slammed Tobias’s body aside, following through with a swing of his axe that nearly took an arm off. He quickly yanked Cal to his feet. “What are you doing? You’re lucky it hesitated--you weren’t even trying to move, Cal!” He looked angry, something Cal didn’t see often. 

“Sorry, I…” Cal shook his head, not really sure what to say. He had been fully prepared to die in that moment. 

A loud crash from the other side of the room drew Cal’s attention. Mick was on his knees, one hand held out in a fist, bleeding from his forehead. His gaze was locked on Matthias. “I can give you power beyond measure.” Matthias grated, the floor under him cracking. “Give me that stone and you will become a god.”

“Go to hell.” Mick grunted, clenching his fist tighter. The waves of magic coming from both of them were practically visible and maybe it was just Cal’s imagination, but he thought he could see them in a sort of tug-of-war. 

“Cal.” Wes called, and Cal turned in time to block a strike from Tobias’s body, only to be hit with a wave of power that sent both him and Wes crashing into the ground, pinned by an invisible hand. The creature approached them slowly, scraping the rusty sword against the ground as it walked.

And was suddenly beset, arms wrapping around its neck and torso from behind. Tobias’s ghost made as if to choke his own body, a fierce look on his face. A flash of white light separated the two of them with a stagger, and Tobias put himself in between Cal, Wes and the zombie. “Give me back my sword.” He snarled. Cal wanted to get up and help, but he was still struggling to unpin himself, feeling like he was losing more blood from his shoulder than he should be. 

The voice that belonged to the creature laughed, lifted the blade. _Better you had stayed hidden, little thing. Now I shall be rid of you._

“I’m not afraid of you!” Tobias threw himself at the monster, grappling with it and clearly trying to take the weapon from its hands. 

They both tumbled to the ground and struggled for just a moment, and as they did Cal was able to stand. “Toby!” 

He had just gotten to his feet when a brilliant flash lit the room, coming from both of them, and the ghost disappeared, leaving only the corpse. Which stood, silently turning to look at the two of them with blade raised. _My victims are rarely granted reprieves, even of seconds._ It said. _Be grateful for the little thing._

“Fuck you.” Cal said, defiantly moving into a fighting stance even though he knew he couldn’t win. He controlled his shaking at Tobias’s disappearance. This thing—this monster… “His name is Tobias. You’re going to pay for what you did to him.”

 _I think…_ The monster lurched around, as if drawn by the sudden spike in intensity of the magic battle behind them. The waves of magic had taken on a screaming quality, Mick looked as if he were being crushed by something, and Matthias was on the ground as well. 

“To me!” Matthias shouted, his hand out towards the monster. “Your power, now!”

The monster snarled, but swung away from Cal and Wes to head towards Matthias. Cal moved to intercept but was tossed aside like a doll. _Be patient._ It told him. _I will return to end you soon._

“You’re just a servant.” Cal realized, tasting blood in his mouth. 

The creature didn’t answer, moving towards Matthias with movements less fluid than before, as if their fight had injured it, though Cal didn’t remember that happening. Matthias had his hand out, calling the monster closer, but it halted just out of reach, suddenly frozen. Tense, it raised a hand shakily, as if being restrained by something. 

And then the monster was enveloped in a while light from inside and it screamed, a sound that shook Cal’s bones, and a dark stain of something was pushed out from the corpse, and fled, darting up through the ceiling and away. Standing straight, Tobias looked down at Matthias, and raised his sword. “I’m not afraid of you, either.” He said, bringing the blade down.

“No!” Was all Matthias had time to shout before his head was taken off with one heavy stroke. At the same time, Mick made a hard pulling gesture and with another echoing holler of pain, Matthias collapsed in a pile, a pillar of light expanding around him, crashing through the ceiling and steadily destroying everything around him as it grew.

Cal surged to his feet and raced forward. He grabbed Mick’s belt in one hand and Tobias’s collar in the other, and pulled them both back, aided by Wes’s arm around his middle, and all four of them fell away from that pillar as it expanded and disintegrated everything it touched…until it vanished, leaving a broken corpse in the centre. Sheaves of rubble fell from around the area of the house that had been destroyed. The roof of the entrance hall was now open sky.

In a pile with Wes behind him, Mick beside him and Tobias in his lap, Cal panted. “Mick? You okay?”

“Yeah.” Was the answer. “He was strong. Really, really strong. Turns out I’m not very good at necromancy.”

“Wes?”

“Fine. A little annoyed at your tendency to run towards danger, but fine.”

“Toby?”

“He’s dead.” Tobias said in a quiet voice. Cal sat up a little straighter and pulled the boy into his lap. “He’s dead.” Tobias was shaking, hand still gripped on the rusty sword. He looked up at Cal with the wide, sunken eyes of a corpse. Cal suspected he’d have been crying if his tear ducts had been functioning. “They’re both dead.”

“You did it, Toby.” Tobias couldn’t cry, but Cal could and he felt ears coming to his eyes now. “Neither of them can hurt anyone now. You did it.”

“I…” Tobias’s voice hitched. “I did it. Do…you think they’re proud of me?” He was starting to sound faint, and the light that still covered him was fading. “Ophelia and Adrian? And Monty and Lord and Lady Faran, and…do you think they’re happy?”

“I think they are.” Cal said. “They’re all so proud of you, Toby.” He hugged the boy tightly, felt Wes and Mick touching him, their heat comforting. “You were so brave for such a long time. Of course they’re proud of you.” 

“Are they waiting for me? Do you think they waited for me, Cal?”

“I do.” Cal said, tears falling now. “I do, Toby. They love you, so they waited. I promise they’re waiting.” 

“Okay.” Tobias smiled, light fading and his eyes fluttering closed. “I’m tired, Cal. I’m so tired. I haven’t slept in such a long time.”

“You can go to sleep now, Toby. It’s okay. We’re all safe now. You kept us all safe. It’s okay to sleep now.” 

Tobias nodded once. “Thank you.” He whispered, and the light faded. His body went limp in Cal’s arms. 

Cal hugged Toby’s body tighter. “I’m sorry.” He said softly. “I wish I could have helped you.” 

“Cal…” Mick moved himself into a sitting position, leaning in against Cal. Wes was hugging him from behind. 

“A hundred years.” Cal cried. “He waited for a hundred years. They chased him day and night and he had to run and hide. For a hundred years. It would have been so easy for him to just give up, give them the stone but he hid it from them for a hundred years. He must have been so scared, and so lonely, and…he was waiting for us.” 

“There’s nothing we could have done, Cal.” Wes said, a deep rumble that Cal felt in his chest. 

Cal nodded. “I know. I know we couldn’t. I just…why is it always people like him the world is cruel to?” 

“I don’t know.”

“I want to take him back with us.” Cal said. “Bury him properly. He shouldn’t have to stay here.” Bodies were just bodies, it didn’t matter what happened to them after they died. Cal had always thought that and he still did. But it didn’t seem fair, after everything, to leave Toby here. 

“We will.” Mick promised. “Let’s stay here for the night. It’s creepy but it should be safe without all the undead.”

Cal nodded. “I’m sorry.” He said, still crying. “I’m sorry. We got what we came for. I dragged us all the way here, I know I should be happy, but…”

“It’s okay.” Wes said, and Mick nodded. “It’s okay, Cal.”

“I love you both so much.” He sobbed. “I don’t know…I just love you, both of you.”

“We love you too, Cal.” Wes told him, and Cal nodded at the answer because he knew. If there was one thing he knew it was that. 

“I couldn’t have held on.” Cal wasn’t totally sure of what he was saying, if he were honest with himself. “Not for a hundred years. Not by myself. With you guys I could. I could forever if I had to. I don’t know how he did it by himself.” 

“People are strong when they need to be.” Wes said quietly.

“Cry, Cal.” Mick said, rubbing his leg. “You should cry for him.” His own eyes were damp as well. “Somebody has to.” 

Cal nodded and clutched Tobias tight to his chest, his tears landing on withered skin. The two of them held him for a long time as he sat there and cried over the body of a hero.


	11. Normalcy is a Matter of Perspective, and Finding it Can Be Difficult

Tobias’s funeral was quiet. Cal had convinced a priest in Thorndale to come and say rites and paid a gravedigger to dig the hole, but neither of them stayed beyond their assigned task, because of course neither of them cared all that much about a hundred-year-dead kid. A few people from the town came by the little hill that housed the cemetery, but they hung back and wandered off once it was clear that it was just someone being buried. 

Cal had paid quite a bit of money for a nice plot near the top of the hill and a sturdy coffin, and neither Wes nor Mick had complained about the drain on their funds. They had more in the banks anyway; they would just have to stop by one on the way to Merket was all. 

Unbeknownst to him until this morning, Mick had devised a little spell to put on the coffin, which he said would ensure that the body would never be animated again. There was little danger of that happening, but Cal thought Toby would have appreciated that. Wes had commissioned a stonecutter to make Tobias a grave stone that had his name, the title “Hundred-Year Guardian” and a simple epitaph that read “He waited.”

Sometimes Cal just didn’t have any words to express how much he loved those two. 

When the priest had finished saying all the usual prayers he left, and Cal, Mick and Wes stood in the graveyard by themselves. Snow crunched underfoot as they shifted. “Theodore has a lot of explaining to do.” Cal muttered after several minutes. Both of them looked up at him. “I mean—this wasn’t his fault or anything. But I want to know how he knew about this stone, and what it is. And why it’s so valuable.” 

“A stone that can raise the dead.” Mick said, shrugging. “Seems like it’d be inherently valuable.” 

“He can’t use it though.” Wes shook his head. “I’m with Cal—I don’t believe he wants to stick it on a shelf and admire it.” 

“We’ll ask him.” Cal promised. “And the old lady in Two Oaks. Toby said an old lady told him to guard the stone and give it to Armageddon’s Vanguard. Us.”

“That’s a terrible name.” Mick said. “I don’t like it.” 

“Still. I want to talk to her again. I want to know what she knew.” 

_You’re the Doomed One, aren’t you?_

“And that dark thing that was possessing Tobias.” Wes added. “It ran away. But what the hell was it?”

“What did Matthias mean when he said we didn’t understand the stone’s power?” Mick asked. But then he shook his head. “But guys, not all questions have answers.” 

“Yeah.” Cal looked down at Toby’s grave and sighed. “We should get going.” He moved to head back, but paused, and got down on his knees, hands flat together with his thumbs hooked together to pray. 

Cal didn’t pray very often, but he knew the prayers that he was supposed to say over the dead. None of them came to mind just then, and he made both hands into fists and held them together instead. “Run long and free.” He muttered. “And may your name ring hallowed in the halls of gods.” 

Shivering a little in the slight chill, Cal got up and brushed snow from his pants. And turned to see Wes and Mick looking at him. “That wasn’t a catechism prayer.” Mick said quietly. 

“No.” Cal agreed, glancing back at the gravestone one more time. _You can sleep now, Toby. I hope you have good dreams._ “I couldn’t think of any.” He wasn’t sure where the one he’d used had come from. It had just seemed right at the time. _Thank you._

They followed him down the hill and back to their inn, where they changed into travelling clothes and paid their tab—they really needed to go to a bank; Cal was pretty sure the nearest one was a week away in a city called Lonely Peak. They were going to need the detour if they were going to afford supplies enough to get them back to Merket.

“It’s spring.” Cal commented as they left Thorndale on the road heading west, looking around. There was still snow on the ground, but it seemed to be melting and it wasn’t that cold out. In the week or so that they’d been in the swamp it seemed like winter had ended. 

“It feels late for spring.” Wes answered, though his tone was one of agreement. “Soon enough I’ll have to deal with you not wanting to wear clothes, though.”

“We should take a vacation when the weather gets nice.” Mick said before Cal could answer. Not that Cal had necessarily been about to argue. “Once we finish with Theodore.”

“But it’ll be summer by the time we get to Merket.” Cal protested, shifting a little. Walking was uncomfortable because of where he’d chosen to hide both the stone and the decoy on his person. They’d made fun of his paranoia, but Cal was still worried they were being followed. “Summer is when people want things.”

“Just for a few weeks, Cal.” Mick’s tone was even. “We could use some time to do nothing with.” 

“We…” Cal hesitated, looked at the ground as he walked. “Yeah. Okay. I guess we’ll be able to afford it.” And a little time between jobs, this once, might not be a bad idea, he admitted. “Maybe we could go to Pelican Bay.” He said idly. “They have that summer festival that…”

The ambush was quick, efficient and effective. One minute they were alone on the road and the next they were surrounded back and front by people who Cal recognized. “Dammit.” He muttered, drawing his sword and turning around. 

Beatrice was standing right behind him, sword pointed right at his throat. “You bitch.” He said.

“I haven’t even done anything yet.”

“Yeah, but what you’re about to do is going to make me want to call you a bitch, so I’m getting it out of the way early.” 

“Just business, Cal.” Beatrice said, smiling. “And Lillian’s already blocked Mick’s magic, so just come quietly.” 

Cal glanced over his shoulder and Mick nodded, looking as pissed as Cal felt, and he sighed, dropped his sword arm. “Fine.”

“Let’s take this off the road. We wouldn’t want someone to come by and think it’s a robbery.”

“No, what would that do to your reputation?” Cal sneered. “Actually, not a damn thing, probably.”

“Just be grateful we’re planning to leave you alive.” She said as her people led them off the road and over a low hill, where they wouldn’t be visible. This area wasn’t swampland, but there was enough vegetation around that it might even dull some of the sound. 

“Someday you’ll regret that you keep doing that.”

“I already do, every time we meet.” 

Cal gave her the finger as her people circled around them. He glanced at Wes, whose hand was twitching, and shook his head. It was possible they could win, but he didn’t want to risk it when they were outnumbered. Besides, Cal avoided killing people when he could. 

“Take their weapons.” Beatrice said, and a tall man with a beard stepped forward to relieve Cal of his sword, quickly patting him down for other weapons and immediately finding the knife in Cal’s sleeve, which was annoying. Cal glared at him and he smiled apologetically. “And their bags. We’re only looking for the stone, though. No need to take anything else.”

“How generous of you.” Mick muttered.

“You’re such a bitch.” Cal added.

“You already said that.”

“It bears repeating.” 

It took a few minutes to go through all the bags, scattering their things on the ground, before Beatrice’s people gave up. “There’s stones everywhere.” Cal said. “If you want one so bad just look on the ground.” 

“Cute.” She said, looking at Cal. “One of them must have it on him. Their clothes.”

“You’ve been following us since Merket.”

“Yes.”

The bearded man had approached Cal again, who crossed his arms and stared him down. The man quirked an eyebrow. “You can cooperate or I can start cutting things off, kid.” 

Cal glared at him for a minute longer before raising his arms. He wasn’t about to undress himself. Cal was quivering with fury as this went on, and he kept an eye on Mick as Beatrice’s people stripped them all to their underclothes. “A little cold for this.” He said conversationally. 

“Worried about shrinkage, Cal?”

“Fuck you.”

“As if you’d even know how.” 

“As if you’re not getting off on this.” Cal shot back. “This is probably the only way you get to undress anyone.” 

“Here we go.” Beard man said, when his shaking of Cal’s left boot moved the stone loose from the lining. It dropped into the palm of his hand and he smiled at Cal before handing it over to Beatrice.

“You guys okay?” Cal asked the other two. 

Wes nodded, fury plain in the way he was standing. He was flushed from his face down to his shoulders and like Cal couldn’t quite stop shaking with it. Mick was a little more restrained, though he just looked miserable in a way that made Cal want to kill people. “Fine.” Mick said. 

“It’s going to be okay. I’ve got this.”

“Do you?” Beatrice said, smiling down at the stone in her hand before tossing it into the bushes. “You think I’ve never seen a decoy spell before?” She asked sweetly. “Where’s the real one?”

“You just threw it in the bush.” Cal said, keeping a firm rein on his expression. 

“Sure I did.” Her eyes flicked downwards. “There’s only one place left where they could be hiding it.” 

Beatrice’s team moved forward again and Cal narrowed his eyes, glancing first at the younger man headed for Mick, then to Wes and back again. Both of them moved at the same time and the man had both of his arms behind his back before he knew what had happened, twisted just short and what would have been the point of no return. “You touch him.” Cal spat. “I’ll break a lot more than an arm, got it?” Weapons were pointed at him now but Cal ignored them, waiting for the man’s pained nod before letting him go. Wes held on for a second longer as if seriously considering just breaking the arm and being done with it, but ultimately let go and the man staggered off, to the laughter of his comrades. 

“How very protective of you.” Beatrice said with a mild sneer. “Makes me wonder if you’re protecting more than his virtue.” 

Cal rolled his eyes and reached into his loincloth, pulling out another stone and whipping it at her face.

She caught it with a smirk. “Disgusting. But I’m not surprised.” She slipped it into her pocket and nodded at her people. “Tie them up. We don’t need them following us.”

“If you were better at this you wouldn’t need to resort to theft.” Cal said to her as they produced ropes and began tying all of their hands behind their backs. 

“If you were better at this you wouldn’t keep being the victim of theft.” Beatrice said, stepping closer and producing a small knife, with which she sliced the material of Cal’s loincloth. The fabric unravelled, fell to the ground. “Just making sure you weren’t hiding anything else in there. Guess you weren’t.”

“You’d better get really far ahead before we start moving again.” Cal warned. “You should know better than to have your backs to us.” 

“Somehow I’m not worried.” Beatrice said, giving him a little poke in the chest before leaving, gesturing for her team to follow after her. A couple of them looked back once or twice, but that was it. 

“I hate her.” Cal declared, once she’d left. His hands and fingers were already moving about as much as they could behind his back, scrambling at the knots. 

“I know you didn’t see because you were too busy breaking someone’s arm like a pair of lunatics, but you nearly got killed with that stunt.” Mick growled.

“And we’d do it again.” Wes said flatly. “You think otherwise you’re crazy.”

Mick sighed, and Cal could almost hear his smile. “You guys…give me twenty minutes or so for Lillian’s spell to wear off, I can magic us out of this. And thanks. You okay, Cal?”

“I haven’t got anything that I’m not proud of and you know it.” Cal said smugly, the knots coming undone. He stood and stretched. “Twenty minutes. Hah.” 

“Shut up.”

“Hold on.” Cal went and retrieved his knife from the pile of their belongings and sliced the bonds on the other two. “Nice rope.” He muttered. “Shame to waste it. You okay, Mick? Really?” He put a hand on Mick’s arm and looked him in the eye. 

“Really, I’m okay.”

“Wes?”

“It’s fine.” 

“Okay.” Cal sighed, leaned back as they both regrettably started hunting for clothes. Cal didn’t bother yet, heading over to the bushes. 

“I think we should talk about the fact that you were keeping an artefact of immense necromantic power in your loincloth.” Mick said, voice stern. “Do I even need to explain why you shouldn’t do that?”

“Seemed like a good hiding place.” Cal said, shrugging one shoulder. “I trust the only two people who ever get their hands in there.” 

Wes, meanwhile, was looking out where Beatrice and company had disappeared, as if measuring. “If we start following them quickly, they won’t be expecting us.” He said. “We can catch up pretty fast.”

“We don’t need to do that.” Cal called back, getting down on his hands and knees and crawling into the bush. The stone was sitting right there on the ground. One of Thorndale’s long red centipedes was on it, probably to take it for a nest or something, but Cal smacked it away and snatched the stone, holding it aloft for the others to see. “Let her go, all the way back to Merket.”

“And take the decoy with her.” Mick said, quiet. And then he laughed. “She should have taken both of them. Lillian would have been able to tell the difference in a few minutes. But without the real stone to compare it to…”

“She’ll try to sell off an ordinary pebble.” Cal smiled, sauntered back over to the pile and went about picking his clothes. “And never know the damn difference. Go ahead, tell me how smart I am.” 

“Yes, yes.” Mick said, throwing pants at him. “We all worship at your feet, and so on.” 

“The way it should be.” Cal sighed, started dressing, deciding against picking out a new loincloth and just going without, though he thought he might regret that later. 

“I’m kind of glad this happened.” Wes said after a second. Cal looked up at him. “We were all kind of…” He made a vague gesture. “Especially you. You’re back to normal now.” 

Cal smiled, thinking of Tobias. “Life as previously scheduled.” He said. “I’m…I was really upset about what happened in the swamp. I still am. I’m glad I had you two here with me.” 

“We’re always here for you, Cal.” Mick said, patting his bare back. “Just like you are for us.” 

“And for the record,” Wes added, lifting Cal up suddenly to kiss him on the mouth before setting him gently down. “You’re exactly the right size as far as we’re concerned.” 

“I wasn’t worried about that.” Cal asserted, rolling his eyes to hide his smile. “But thanks. Let’s finish here and get moving. I want to get a little further from the town before we camp.” They nodded and went about repacking all of their things, and for just a minute Cal stood there and watched them. 

Everything was going to be fine, he thought, because they had each other. Everything was going to be fine, because they were together.


	12. A Little Decadence Never Hurt Anyone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the 100th overall chapter of this series (!!!!!) and of course it's wall-to-wall porn. 
> 
> It wasn't intentional--didn't occur to me to count until last week and I'd long since written this week's chapters by then--but I guess it's probably fitting since this series was just supposed to be a bunch of porn-y oneshots before it ballooned into what it is now. 
> 
> All I'm really saying is, do not be surprised if at some point in the future you have to read a note from me commenting on the 200th chapter. And thank you everyone who's stuck with me this whole time, and to everyone who's stuck with me part of the time, and to everyone who just started reading today! You are all fantastic.

The supposed peak upon which sat Lonely Peak was really more of a small rise in the land than anything else, but that didn’t bother the people who lived here and so Cal didn’t let it bother him either. He had money in his pocket today, so little could bother him, really. 

“Do you really think we need that much?” Wes asked him. 

“I took it out of my account.” Cal said. “Not our operating funds. Don’t worry about it.” 

Between them they had four separate accounts at the institution called Proctor’s Bank. Each of them had an individual account where they kept their cuts from all their jobs, and they shared a team account that they used to fund all their work. Banks, Cal thought, were going to be where everyone kept their money in the future. He knew a lot of people weren’t sold on the idea of someone else holding their money and lending it out to other people to make yet more money, but for Cal the fact that he could put money in a Proctor’s Bank in Merket and then they would send out birds to notify all their other locations of his account balance so that he could take money out in Lonely Peak, halfway across the country, was a convenience that far outweighed the frankly small risk that the bank was going to make off with his money and never give it back. People who worked for the banks had tried to do that on occasion. They usually disappeared and people’s money was returned swiftly. 

“You should have taken it out of our operating funds, Cal.” Mick said, giving Cal a light shove. “You don’t need to personally pay for us to get back to Merket.”

“It’s fine.” Cal smiled. “I feel like wasting money and I’d rather waste mine than ours.” 

Normally Cal was scrupulous about the inns they stayed at—they all were, not wanting to waste gold on fancy rooms when a small, ordinary one would do just fine. But today Cal led them to a place called the _White Lord’s Rest,_ an inn that looked more like a manor house than a tavern from the outside.

“Cal…”

“My treat.” Cal insisted as he led them inside. 

“You say that like you’re not doing it for yourself too.” Wes teased. Cal just smiled. 

The Lord’s Suite was empty and Cal bought it without a care, telling the innkeeper as he handed over a small sack of gold that he wanted supper brought up to them as well. “I can’t believe you’re willing to pay a mint for a bed.” Mick muttered as they went up the stairs to the room. 

Cal unlocked the door and led them inside. “You’re the one who said we need a vacation. We can’t get that now, but one night of luxury is a good start, don’t you think?” The room was lavishly furnished, came with its own bathtub and a balcony overlooking the inn’s back garden. The bed in the centre of the room could easily have slept six or seven people. Cal was happy to have it sleep three without them having to be on top of each other. The amount of times they’d ended up just sleeping on the floor since they’d started thinking of each other differently really wasn’t funny. 

Cal set up the small screen that blocked the bathtub from the rest of the room, which got him two confused looks while he was doing it, but he just smiled. They all stripped down at got into the tub, scrubbing off the mud and sweat from the trek from Thorndale. As they were doing that there was a knock on the door and Cal called for the inn’s servants to come in. They discretely set up the supper table while the three of them bathed, and when the servants left, Mick gave Cal a kiss on the cheek. 

There was way too much food for the three of them, but that didn’t stop any of them from trying to finish it all. Cal gave up only with reluctance after three helpings of pheasant, too many clams, less vegetables than he should have had, half a loaf of bread and four eggs, not to mention some pretty nice wine. 

“’M done.” Cal said eventually, pushing back from the table and leaning back in the chair. “Can’t eat anymore.” He grabbed a napkin and haphazardly wiped at his face and hands, frowning when he realized he’d dripped some food onto his chest—he hadn’t bothered to put anything but his loincloth on to eat. 

Mick and Wes looked at each other and Cal didn’t notice the way they smiled. “Bet you could.”

“Nope.” Cal was as full as he’d ever been and he stood, staggering awkwardly over to the bed and flopping back, nestling into the silk blankets and pillows with a contented sigh. “When we retire we’ll do this every day.”

“You’ll get fat.” Mick said gently. 

“I’ve always wanted to be fat. Fat people are happy.” Cal said lazily. He hoped the other two would finish eating soon and come lay with him in the bed. That was the only thing that was missing and it was a nice bed. 

It was a moment later before he was joined, and Cal smiled before a metallic coldness on his belly made him try and sit up. Wes held him down, but Cal saw that one of them had put a plate of food on his belly. “What?”

“Bet you can eat more.” Mick said again, sitting beside Cal opposite Wes. He was naked, Cal saw, and Wes was too. He reached out and plucked a mushroom off the plate, prodded at Cal’s mouth with it. Wes was untying Cal’s loincloth. 

Cal looked at Mick for a minute, trying to puzzle out what he was planning. He knew it was making him hard, so he guessed that was good. He opened his mouth and let Mick pop the mushroom in, and chewed it dutifully. “Swallow.” Cal did. “There you go.” 

“This is another one of those coordinated attacks, isn’t it?” Cal asked. The other two paused in the act of looking over the food on the plate and glanced at each other. 

“No, actually.” Wes said after a second. He had broken off some meat with his fingers and brushed it against Cal’s chest as he brought it up for Cal to eat. “Guess we both decided you needed to spoiled at the same time. Now shhh. You need to finish your supper.” 

Cal let Wes put the meat in his mouth, followed by a piece of carrot, and some egg, and some bread with gravy and some more pheasant. After the second or third bite one of them (it was Wes; Cal could tell their hands apart) started gently stroking him off at the same time, slowing down if Cal showed any hesitation in eating. 

“Guys…” Cal whinged, trying not to squirm. There was oil and sauce all over his chest from the drippings and he was starting to feel bloated. “I really don’t think I can eat anymore.” 

“If you don’t finish, we can’t give you desert.” Mick muttered quietly, scooping up some of the spilled sauce from Cal’s chest with another mushroom and coaxing it into his mouth. 

“But I…fuck.” Cal came all of a sudden under Wes’s hand, swallowing the mushroom whole as he did. He nearly choked, but he managed to get it down. They let him have a minute to lay there, panting. “I feel like I just had desert.” He muttered.

“Not yet.” Wes said, taking his hand away. “You’ve only got a little bit left, then you’re done, okay?” 

“How much?”

“Four more bites.”

It didn’t pass Cal’s notice that he was being treated like a child, but Cal also found he didn’t mind. He nodded. “Okay.” 

Cal closed his eyes and took a breath, and a moment later a piece of meat was put in his mouth. It had a strangely salty flavour that Cal only identified after he’d swallowed. “Did I…”

“Yeah, you gave the rest of your supper a little extra seasoning.” Mick said, and what felt like a piece of egg was being wiped across Cal’s pubic bone, scooping up the mess. Mick slid it into Cal’s mouth.

Cal thought about it for a second and then swallowed. 

“You’re doing a good job, Cal.” Wes said. “Only two left.” 

“I’m going to finish.” Cal muttered, summoning as much determination as he could. 

Wes gave him a piece of bread and Cal chewed it for a good while before mustering the power to swallow, smiling at the pat he got on the shoulder. The last bite was in his mouth almost as soon as he’d swallowed the bread. Cal thought it was a piece of cheese, and he didn’t like cheese, but he chewed and swallowed it as well, resting his head back and panting. “I’m full.” He whinged. “I can’t eat anymore.” His stomach felt distended to twice its usual size. Cal was worried he was going to burst if they tried to give him anything else. 

“You’re finished, Cal.” Mick said, wiping Cal’s forehead with something. “Did you leave room for desert?”

“Only if desert is a euphemism for sex.” And if both of them were willing to do all the work; Cal didn’t think he could move. 

“It is.” Wes’s voice seemed a lot closer than before and Cal opened his eyes to see him crawling up the bed, a calming smile on his face. Cal started to get hard again, and did so instantly when Wes lifted up a leg and manoeuvered himself so that he was, very carefully, straddling Cal’s chest, his erection pointed right at Cal’s chin. “We’ve got two more things for you to swallow, if you think you can do it.” 

Cal tried to smirk, but he was pretty sure it came out more desperate than anything. “Oh, I can do it.” He’d been practicing his swallowing the last little while. 

Mick lifted Cal’s head and propped it on a pillow, to give Wes easier access to Cal’s mouth. “Open wide.” And Cal did, letting Wes into his mouth. Wes was gentle; Wes was always gentle, and he slid in only so far, leaving it to Cal to decide how much to take in. 

Cal was greedy and he only let Wes get away with the gentleness for a few seconds before reaching up and putting his hands on Wes’s hips, pulling him closer and making little noises as Wes got further and further in. “Ah…” Wes strained, when Cal moaned more loudly at warmth on his own cock as Mick went down on him. 

Wes hit the back of Cal’s throat and Cal relaxed to avoid gagging, to let Wes further in, and just as that happened he felt a slick finger probing around, pressing inside him. He couldn’t help but tense around it even as Wes slid into his throat, and Mick gave him a reassuring pat on the thigh while Cal took a second to adjust. 

It wasn’t a long adjustment period before Wes made another sound. “I’ve got your desert for you…” He muttered, and Cal would have admired his dedication to the game if he’d had time around trying not to choke on Wes’s cum as it shot down his throat. 

He did gag, just a little bit, and he may not quite have swallowed all of it, but judging by how Wes nearly collapsed on pulling out of his mouth, Cal thought it probably didn’t matter. “Fuck, Cal.” 

“I’ll have to learn a new trick someday.” Cal mumbled with a smile. “Before you get bored with that one.” 

“I don’t think that’ll ever happen.” Wes tapped Mick on the head and they switched places, with Wes on Cal’s cock and Mick moving to gently sit on Cal’s chest and give Cal the rest of his desert.

Wes’s finger, Cal noted as Mick slid into his mouth, was thicker than Mick’s by a fair bit. But he didn’t mind it too badly. He went to work sucking on him, squirming a little more than before as he did from how sensitive he was. 

Mick didn’t take long to cum and when he did, it was with a somewhat uncharacteristic grunt as he pulled nearly all the way out so that he could fill up Cal’s mouth. Cal swallowed, making desperate little noises as he did. If he was honest with himself, he still didn’t like the taste. 

Cal came with a pained cry just as Mick was moving off of him, and he arched his back as best he could with Wes holding him in place. 

After, he just lay there panting, staring up at the bed’s canopy. He felt them take the plate away and after a minute, Wes helped him sit up. “I want another helping.” Cal said, smiling.

“What’s that?”

“You guys only came once. I want more desert.”

“Cal…”

“Shh…” Cal let himself flop forward a little and his hand found Wes, still hard as he’d expected. He cast around until he found Mick as well, and tugged on the two of them until they came closer together. With both of them on their knees, Cal rubbed their cocks together, and leaned in, putting his tongue and lips all over both of them at once, licking and sucking and kissing. 

Wes and Mick put their hands on each other’s shoulders to keep themselves steady, and the steady stream of sounds he got from both of them told Cal he was doing it right. He tried to fit both of them in his mouth at once and found he could only just fit both of their heads in if he stretched his lips out. 

With both hands he jerked them both off, doing his best with his mouth until his cheeks were sore. It was some minutes before Mick tensed up, though it felt like less, and Cal tasted that unpleasant saltiness again. Mick seemed to trigger Wes and then both of them were shooting. Some of it went in his mouth but most of it went on his face, and Cal was okay with that. 

“God…” Wes panted when he was done. Cal sat up with more effort than he’d planned and got a wet, sloppy kiss right on his dirty mouth as he did. “You’re very greedy, Cal.”

“I know.” Cal smiled as Wes moved away, and he got a similar, though neater, kiss from Mick as well. “Thanks, guys.”

“You’re the one who wanted to live the lap of luxury.” Mick muttered, and together the three of them tried to work out moving away from where they’d made a mess and to a cleaner part of the bed where they could get under the blanket. 

“I mostly wanted to spoil you guys.” Cal admitted, smiling again as he snuggled up in between the two of them. He should really get out of bed and clean up, have another bath, probably. Instead he let Wes clean his face off with a wet towel he’d gotten from somewhere. “I love you guys so much I just…” 

“We know.” Mick kissed Cal’s forehead. “We love you too.” 

“I kind of thought…it would be nice if we could live like this all the time, once we’re retired, but…”

“It’s a bit much.” Wes said quietly.

“Yeah. You guys deserve it, but I’m happy the way we live now.”

“Me too.” 

“We all are.” Wes told him, one arm around Cal. “Still, it’s nice to have a fancy room once in a while. Thanks, Cal.”

“I love you guys.”

“You already said that.”

“I want to keep saying it.”

“You’re tired.” Mick told him. 

“I know. This bed is super soft.”

“Go to sleep.”

“You too.” 

“We are.”

“Good.” Cal mumbled, drifting off. “Me too.” And because it bore repeating one more time, he said “I love you” again. 

And that he knew he was loved back made him more comfortable than the soft bed and fancy food ever could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm also posting this series on my [ Tumblr ](http://underhandedpenguin.tumblr.com) for those interested. For those not interested, carry on.


	13. Waking up Together Is One of the Simple Pleasure of a Relationship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cal and Mick both talk a lot and sometimes I worry that Wes sort of fades into the background as a result. So here's a chapter about Wes.
> 
> There're some vague mentions in here of an implied rape, by way of warning.

Cal woke up earlier than usual because he needed to pee. He pulled on what turned out to be Mick’s shirt just because it was still chilly in the mornings and stumbled out of the tent, mentally grumbling to himself. 

The ground was cold and damp and Cal winced when he stepped out onto it, squinting in the pre-dawn grey. It took him a second to realize that Wes was sitting there outside the tent, contemplating the ashes of last night’s fire. “Morning.” Cal mumbled. He hadn’t noticed Wes not being there in the tent. 

“Morning.” Wes looked up at Cal, fully dressed and properly awake. “It’s early, even for you.” 

Cal nodded. “Have to go pee.” He said blearily, setting off to find a tree for that purpose.

He shifted from foot to foot impatiently while he went, wishing that someone had seen fit to give him just a slightly bigger bladder. When he was finished Cal sighed, already more awake than he really wanted to be. 

Instead of going back in the tent, when he went back to the camp he sat beside Wes on the oblong rock they’d put their fire in front of last night. “It’s early for you too.” He said. All three of them were morning people by necessity, but even before it had been necessary Cal had always woken up at dawn, and he knew Wes was the same way. He winced as his bare butt touched the cold rock, wishing that he’d thrown on Mick’s shorts or at least his own loincloth. 

“You should go back to sleep.” Wes said quietly.

“Don’t want to wake Mick up.” Cal muttered, stretching a little as he yawned. “Why’re you up so early, bud?” 

Wes shrugged, looked back down at the ashes. He had a stick in his hand and was twirling it back and forth. “Just thinking.” 

“Something bothering you?” It wasn’t like Wes to sit and brood about things and Cal couldn’t help but worry a little bit because of that. 

“Not really.”

“You want me to be quiet?” Cal asked. 

Wes half-smiled and didn’t say anything for a minute. Cal sat there quietly with him, listened to the first songs of the birds as they woke up. 

“It’s the anniversary of my mom’s death today.” Wes said after a minute. 

Cal looked up at him. “Shit, I didn’t know that.” How Wes had without having seen a calendar in weeks Cal had no idea, but he didn’t doubt it. “I’m sorry, Wes.” He put his hand on Wes’s arm for comfort. 

Wes shook his head. “It’s okay. I’m just thinking about her, is all. She would have liked you guys.” 

“I hope so.” Cal said, resting his head against Wes’s shoulder. “I’m sure we would have liked her too.” 

“You would have. Everyone liked her.” 

“Is it okay if I ask you to tell me about her a little?” Cal asked, watching the horizon where he could just make out the first hints of light. 

Wes shifted, put his arm around Cal. “She was…I know everyone says that their mother was beautiful and kind and everything, but she was. She was, um. Radiant. Like a room couldn’t be dark if she was in it. She always had time for everyone and she was so patient. Especially with me. I was clumsy as a kid, and big, and I used to break stuff all the time by accident.” 

“I can picture that.” Cal said, smiling as he thought of poor preadolescent Wes, growing too fast and not used to how small everything suddenly was. 

“She never got mad at me for it. Just helped me fix it and told me to try and be more careful. I hardly ever saw her get mad at anyone. I used to think she must hate me, hate looking at me, because…because I didn’t look anything like her.” 

“Yeah.” Cal said, rubbing Wes’s leg. “I get it.” _You don’t need to say the rest._

Wes squeezed Cal a little tighter as if in response to the sentiment. “But she didn’t. I asked her about it once because it was bothering me so much. She…that was the only time she ever got mad at me. She said, ‘It doesn’t matter who you look like, Wesley. You’re your own person and you’re my son and I love you. And besides,’ she said, ‘you don’t look like him at all. You’re kind and strong and you’ve never wanted to hurt anyone.’” Wes paused and took a long breath, tears in his eyes. Cal freed his pinned arm and put it around Wes’s back in his best attempt at a hug. 

“She was right.” Cal said quietly. 

“I know.” Wes nodded. “And I felt really bad for even trying to compare myself to that fucker. And I thought, I got so upset and I just…why would anyone do that to her? What kind of monster…”

“I don’t know, Wes.” Cal shook his head, wishing he had a better answer. “I don’t know.” 

“She baked. Bread and muffins and cakes, to sell at the market every day. But that was only after I was born. Before she…before she got pregnant, she’d been a dancer in a troupe. I used to catch rats when I was a kid to help her with money, and sometimes I would come home and find her dancing. I always wished I could move like that. It was so beautiful.” 

“You’d be a good dancer.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“I’ve seen you move, Wes.” Cal said. “You’re graceful and composed. You’d be good at it.” 

Wes looked down at Cal for a long minute before smiling. “Thanks, buddy. I just…I miss her a lot.”

“I know, Wes.” Cal said, squeezing Wes as best he could. The sun was coming up past the horizon now. “I know you do. I’m grateful to her. For making you.” Wes let out a small laugh. “I love you, Wes.”

“I love you too, Cal.” 

The tent flap rustled behind them and Cal looked over his shoulder to smile at Mick. He’d found another shirt to wear. “Am I intruding?” He asked, looking at the two of them. 

“We’re talking about Wes’s mom.” Cal told him, motioning with his head for Mick to join them. 

Mick smiled, came over and hugged Wes from behind, kissing the top of his head. “You okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m okay. Do you think I’d be a good dancer, Mick?” 

Mick frowned, obviously confused. But he looked thoughtful for a minute before nodding. “Yeah. You always move confidently. I bet you would be.” 

That got him a smile. “Thanks. I should make breakfast.” 

“I can do it.” Cal offered, though he didn’t move. 

“No, it’ll give me something to do. You need to get dressed. In your own clothes.”

Cal laughed but stood when Wes did, lingering to give him a quick kiss on the chin. He kissed Mick good morning as well before heading back to the tent, where he turned and took one more quick look. Mick was sitting on the rock now, watching Wes go about starting breakfast. Wes worked against a backdrop of the rising sun, which gave him a glowing corona as he moved. 

Cal was pretty sure that radiance ran in the family.


	14. History Repeats Itself because It's Etched onto the Back of the Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been looking forward to this one.

One of Cal’s favourite things about his job was that sometimes, they didn’t have to go looking for artefacts—sometimes they were just there. 

Really, being a relic hunter was just a case of never growing out of wanting to explore every nook and cranny of the world, and so all three of them were used to looking around for interesting rock formations, trees that might be hollow, anywhere there might be something under the ground and ruins of old buildings. 

Today it was a half-buried entrance to a cave that Wes spotted because snow and ice melting had shifted just enough of the rocks hiding it to make visible the enclave behind. The area they were travelling through was getting more and more rocky and hilly as they neared the Amaran Mountains. Since those bisected the country neatly, there was no way to get back to Merket without passing over or through them, unless one wanted to travel through an old iron mine that was long since abandoned by humans, but was populated by giant spiders, ghouls and all manner of other nasty things that Cal wanted less than nothing to do with. 

And now he was glad that they hadn’t decided to find a pass farther south than they’d already travelled, because there was a hidden old cave here and in his experience, those usually had good shit buried in them. 

“There are wards on the cave entrance.” Mick muttered as Cal and Wes shifted rocks. That just made Cal all the more excited. 

“Someone wanted it kept hidden.” He said, grinning. That meant there was something worth hiding inside. 

“I’d say so—and they’re decaying, so it’s been a long time.” Mick frowned as he moved his hands around. “I don’t even recognize this style of ward, so I don’t think I can get rid of it. Best I can do is slip us through one of the holes that’s opened up in it.” He was talking mostly to himself, so Cal just went back to moving rocks, though a part of him felt like he shouldn’t be having to do the hard physical labour. 

Wes was doing most of the lifting, to be fair. “We should be careful.” He said as he lifted a particularly large rock away. “A lot of caves like this don’t necessarily go anywhere, and they can narrow quickly, or cave in. And we don’t know what’s living in them.” 

Cal nodded. “You’re right, but my instinct says you don’t ward a cave that doesn’t go anywhere. It could be a hidey-hole from something like the Flame War, or the Ascension of what’s-her-name.” 

“Dorothy the Deathless.” Mick muttered. “And she died, so she wasn’t. But these spells are older than that.” 

Cal paused, glancing at Mick. “The Flame War was two thousand years ago.”

“I know.” 

“You’re thinking the Apocalypse.” Wes said quietly, also looking at Mick. “The Catechism Wars and the Founding.”

“Yeah.” Mick nodded, still moving his hands. “Or even before that.”

Cal was quiet. The Apocalypse was when God had called on the first saints to rise up and fight against all those who worshipped heathen idols—which at the time had been everyone. The Catechism Wars had followed from that and gone on (though the history was more mythological than historical) for over two hundred years, followed by the Founding of Civilization when they’d been won by the righteous. That had been four thousand years ago and there were no records of the world before that, but it was said to be nothing but turmoil and strife without end. That anything could have survived from that time period was unlikely at best. 

And yet Cal was certain that was what they had on their hands. “We’ll be careful.” He said after a time. “But we’re going in. If anything in there has survived, it’s going to be hugely valuable.” 

“And probably highly dangerous.” Mick added.

“I said we’d be careful.” 

Mick just nodded, though he looked a little worried. 

It took them nearly an hour to clear enough rocks to get inside. Cal avoided the obvious comment that if Wes and Mick were normal-sized people they could have shaved twenty minutes easy off their rock-moving time and just went in first. Mick did some magic that let them through the wards that Cal didn’t understand, but it clearly worked since nothing seemed to trigger as they passed into the cave and all he felt was a slight tingle as they moved through the entrance. 

The cave was just wide enough for Wes to cram though, though it lowered as they went on until even Cal was crouching a bit. It was quiet and drier than Cal would have thought, though part of him was sure he could hear water rushing nearby. A ball of light illuminated everything from behind, and just when he was starting to worry that they weren’t going to be able to fit any farther, he spotted a dark hole ahead that, when the light hit it, showed a cavern beyond. “There we are.” He said quietly. 

The cavern wasn’t enormous, but there was enough room for the three of them to stand straight and move around. The walls were featureless rock and that proved to be covered in dust when he ran a hand along one. The floor was the same way. It had been dry here for a long while. Cal could picture someone hiding out here for a few days or weeks if they had the supplies. 

Someone hadn’t had enough supplies, though. There was a skeleton sitting against the back wall of the cavern, so innocuous that Cal didn’t see it at first. He frowned at it and took a step in that direction. “After all this time.” Cal muttered. “You’d think he’d have rotted away.” There were misshapen lumps here and there on the floor, and closer inspection showed that they were probably the skeleton’s possessions, a bag and some clothes, maybe. All long since decayed into nearly nothing. 

“It must be fossilizing.” Mick said as he came around Cal to approach the skeleton. Metal scraped as he moved and Mick stopped, crouched to the ground and picked something up. 

It looked like a small rust chip to Cal, but Mick held it up so they could see it closely. “It’s a coin.” Wes said, taking it carefully and inspecting it. “Or it was.” Mick patted the ground carefully and came up with a few more. 

“We should take them.” Cal said, looking around. The walls had what looked like little holes in them, where someone might hide something. He couldn’t say why, since he saw them often enough, but he didn’t want to approach the skeleton, at least not alone. 

Maybe part of him was afraid that it would start moving.

“They’re so degraded they probably aren’t worth anything.” Mick said, though he took a small pouch from his pocket and was carefully wiggling his fingers at it. “We can’t prove that they’re what we think they are.” 

“Mick.” Wes said, and he was approaching the skeleton slowly now. “Bring that light closer.”

Mick did. “What is it?” Cal asked, moving closer.

“He has horns.” 

He did. The skeleton was completely intact and Cal was pretty sure Mick was right in saying it was turning to stone. In life, he or she had been a little shorter than Mick. There were two curved horns protruding from the frontal bone. “Maybe it’s just a…I don’t know, a sediment deposit or something, from being here so long.” Cal suggested. But he didn’t believe it and he knew they didn’t either. 

The skeleton’s spine was too long, as if he’d had a vestigial tail, and its fingers were too long and had an extra joint in them. “They say that before the Apocalypse, demons wandered freely around the earth.” Mick muttered. 

‘They’ were full of shit, Cal thought vaguely. There was no way to know that. Out loud, he said, “Maybe I was wrong about this being a hidey-hole. Maybe it was a prison.”

Mick shook his head. “The wards were to keep things out, not in.” 

“Did she know she was building herself a tomb?” Cal wondered, standing up and looking around the cave. 

“She?”

Cal glanced at Wes, realizing what he’d said. He wasn’t sure why he’d said it, so he shrugged. “We don’t know if it was a man or a woman. Just evening out the assumption balance is all.” 

Wes snorted, shaking his head fondly. “You’re really cute, Cal.”

“Fuck off.” Cal muttered, something catching his attention. One of the little recesses in the wall ran pretty high and was directly in the skeleton’s gaze. He wandered over, looking at it, thinking that if it had been him…

“Cal, you’re going to get your hand stuck.” Mick warned him as he stuck his hand in. 

“I’ll be fine, there’s…” His hand gripped something long and he nodded, shifted it and pulled it free of the recess, a sheaf of dust falling all around him. 

It was a sword in a leather sheath. The leather was stained and banded with a tarnished metal that may have been gold. The handle was ornate and heavy, the grip worn. “How did this get in here?” Cal asked, to himself.

“It must have belonged to our friend here.” Mick said, looking up at the weapon with open curiosity. 

“No, it didn’t.” Cal muttered, drawing it free from the sheath. The blade was thin and mottled with what looked like rust, but it was actually dried and crusted blood. “How did she come to have it, I wonder.” 

“Cal, that’s way too well-preserved not to be magical.” Mick warned, standing. “You should put it down.”

“No.” Cal said, looking at the blade. It seemed too big for his hand, but… “This is my sword.” 

“You’d need to be a little bigger to use it.” Mick told him. 

“Mick.” Wes said.

“I know. I don’t feel any power in it, but…”

“My mother and father gave this to me.” Cal said quietly, remembering. “On the day I left the hold.” It had been warm that day, he remembered. 

“Your family runs a tannery, Cal.” Wes reminded him. 

Cal shook his head. “They told me…my mother told me that I should use it to protect all that was good, and to stand up against all that was evil. And my father said…he said that I mustn’t falter. Because good has to work its hardest every day, but evil just has to wait for good to stumble.” He could hear their voices in his head as he spoke, clear as if they were beside him now.

“Cal…”

“That’s why I killed my brothers.” Cal whispered. “With this sword. Because…”

“Cal, stop.” Mick commanded. “You didn’t kill your brothers. The sword is possessing you.” 

“I killed them.” He could remember doing it. Remember watching them fall, one at a time. “All five of them. At the banks of the river where we used to play when we were young. The water was so clear until…now it runs red. It still runs red, even after.” 

“Wes, we need to take that from him.” Mick said, and Cal turned so that he had both of them in his sight. 

He shifted into a fighting stance. “No. This is mine, I need it. There’s still evil in the world. I need to fight it.” So much, there was so much evil. And he, and his people, were the cause of so much of it.

“You have another sword on your belt, Cal.” Wes said firmly. “You don’t need to use that one.” 

“I do!” Cal raised his voice, and it echoed through the small cavern. “I’m not going to let you take it from me, it’s mine, you can’t…” Suddenly he was lifted from the ground and gently pressed back into the wall. “Let me go!” 

“Sorry, Cal.” Mick said, and Wes approached him and put a hand on his sword arm, another on his wrist. “Let go. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t want to hurt you either, but I will!” Cal yelled, struggling as best he could. This should have been something he could break out of, these two weren’t enough to keep him pinned like this, it wasn’t…

Wes wrenched his wrist and Cal cried out as the sword dropped to the ground, clattering against the dusty stone with a sharp clang, and then a screech as Wes kicked it away. 

Cal dropped from whatever magic was holding him and he immediately moved to grab the sword, only to be restrained firmly by Wes from behind. “Let me go, let me go! I need that! You can’t…”

“We can.” Mick approached Cal carefully and put a hand on his head, frowning. Cal kept struggling as a cool power swept through his body, followed by a flash of heat, and then more cool. Mick frowned. “It isn’t working, hold on.”

“Here, hold him up again.” Wes said, and he sounded angry. Cal could sympathize; he was angry too. If they would just let him have his sword he could go. It wasn’t like he planned to hurt either of them. Only evil people, that was it. Cal floated a few inches above the ground, trying to kick and struggle, and Wes let him go and moved behind Mick.

“Let me go.” Cal pleaded. “You don’t understand. I though you would understand. I need you to let me go so I can…what are you doing?” With his feet, Wes had carefully moved the sword and propped it against the wall. Cal saw what he was going to do and started to panic. “No, you can’t! Don’t! That’s…” Wes lifted his foot and brought it down on the metal, which snapped with a crash in Cal’s head. “No!” 

And then it subsided, and Cal realized what he’d been doing, and saying. “Oh, my God.” He said, breathless, looking at the broken sword. “What the…oh, God. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, you guys.” 

Gently, Mick set Cal down on the ground and Cal sat, hands shaking, as Mick put a hand to his forehead again. “I’m sorry, I really…”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Mick said quietly. “You were possessed.”

“But I wasn’t.” Cal breathed. “I didn’t…that was me saying that. There wasn’t something else in my mind, I…I threatened you. I would have hurt you.” He didn’t realize he was crying until the first several tears had run down his face. “I’m sorry. I want to say I didn’t mean it…but I did.”

“You didn’t.” Wes insisted. “The sword probably just had a curse on it. It had someone’s memories in it, or something.”

“Or something.” Mick muttered, pulling back from Cal with a frown. “You’re surprisingly susceptible to compulsion spells, Cal. When we get to a city I’m going to make or find you a ward that will protect you from them.” 

Cal nodded, looking away. They shouldn’t be forgiving him so easily. “I…I remember. It wasn’t just in the sword—I remember everything I was talking about. My parents giving me that sword, using it to kill my brothers. I remember it like it happened to me.” 

“It didn’t.”

“I know.” Cal did know that. “But I remember it happening, Mick.” 

“You need a better healer than me.” Mick declared, and he helped Cal stand. “You seem okay for now, and I’ll keep an eye on you. But we’re going to get a real healer to take a look at you, just in case there are after effects from the possession.”

Cal started to protest, but he saw the set of Mick’s jaw, the expression on Wes’s face, and glanced down at the broken sword. And looking at it made him sad. He nodded. “Okay. Let’s get out of here. Can you ward this cave again so that people won’t find it?”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best. I can patch over the holes in what’s already there.” 

“The coins too.” Wes said. “We’ll leave them behind. Don’t want to take any risks.” 

“Right.” Cal muttered, and as they prepared to leave, he took one last look at the demon skeleton at the back wall. “She was hiding it.” He said, certain. “The sword.”

“She should have just broken it, then.” Wes grumbled, glancing at the skeleton. 

“Yeah.” She couldn’t, Cal thought. Hiding his reluctance and making himself not look back, Cal led the way out of the cave. He couldn’t help one last intrusive thought as they left.

Even if it was broken, it was still _his_ sword.


	15. When You're Not Asking the Right Questions, Don't Be Surprised if You Don't Like the Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing to see here.

“What the hell’s going on?” Cal muttered, mostly to himself, as he scowled at the squat little building in front of them.

“Looks like it’s been here for a while.” Mick’s tone was neutral, but Cal detected confusion in it. 

He wasn’t wrong. The little tailor’s shop in front of them was sagging and boasted faded paint and a lone, dirty window. A barely legible sign advertised what it was. And it definitely wasn’t a dilapidated little shack that a hundred and nine-year-old-lady lived in. 

“We must have just gone the wrong way or something.” Wes offered. 

“No.” Cal shook his head, still fixing the shop with a death stare. “We didn’t.”

“Well, obviously we did, because we’re clearly in the wrong place, Cal.” 

Cal turned to Wes, looked at him. Not with the death stare, but also not impressed. “Wes. Do you really think we went the wrong way?” 

Wes looked away. “No.” He admitted. “We took the same route as last time. I’m sure of it.” 

“Me too.”

“I knew she was magical.” Mick said, moving his hands in a way that meant he was using his own magic to look at the tailor’s. “But this doesn’t make any sense. I almost…”

When Mick didn’t continue, Cal turned his gaze on him. “What?”

“I’m starting to wonder if she was human.” 

Cal felt his mouth tighten. “Toby said he talked to an old lady a hundred years ago too.”

“What else might she have been, then?” Wes asked, fingers moving in a way that meant he wanted his axe. 

“Not sure.” Mick sighed. “A ghost, some sort of spirit. A lot of things can look human if they want; sirens, elves…angels.”

“Demons.” Cal added.

“Yeah.” Mick shrugged. He was hiding it, but he looked worried. “I mean, most of those things are practically myths, nobody can really prove they exist. Or at least that they exist anymore. Elves are extinct and there haven’t been any substantiated sightings of angels or demons since the Catechism Wars, but…” He shrugged again. 

“Maybe she just died.” Cal said. He felt like he should suggest it, at least, even if it wasn’t true. “And they knocked her house down and did a shitty job of building over it.”

“Maybe.” 

“Probably not.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go.” Wes told them, looking around. “There’s no point standing around here and people are starting to think we’re canvassing to rob the place.” 

“Right.” Cal nodded, took one last long look at the shop and turned away, back in the direction they’d come. 

“Do you think Beatrice and them have gotten back to Merket yet?” Mick asked as they walked, trying not to appear suspicions. The streets weren’t really full, but there were people here and there and this wasn’t the type of neighbourhood that Cal suspected saw a lot of visitors.

“Possibly.” Cal nodded. “They wouldn’t have detoured to Lonely Peak and they’d have been hurrying because they assume we’re chasing them. But we’re still a ways away, my guess is that they’d be getting there in about a week.”

“So a solid week before us, at least.”

“Yeah. I wonder who they’re selling the decoy to.”

“You don’t think it was Theodore, do you?” Wes asked. 

“I didn’t get that vibe from him.” Cal muttered, eyes wandering around the street. “I mean, he was creepy and had a lot of probably bedslaves who were younger than us, but I didn’t feel like he was lying to me, at least. Besides, even if you’re rich, do you give us all that money and then turn around and pay someone else to steal it from us? Even if he’s paying Beatrice less, it’s still a loss for him. They had those in Thorndale too.” He commented, pointing out the long red centipede that was crawling along the wall of a nearby house, before burrowing into the ground. 

“Yeah, I assumed they came from the swamp.” Mick muttered.

“Guess not.”

“They’re kind of gross.” Wes grumbled.

“They’re also way too big.” Mick agreed. “There aren’t very many things they could reasonably eat at that size. Someone should probably do something about them.”

“I can’t imagine why nobody has volunteered to be the huge-ass centipede killer.” 

A meow from the other side of the street caught Cal’s attention. There was a scrawny alley cat sitting there in the gap between two buildings. Staring at him. 

Cal took a step toward it.

“Cal?” 

“It’s her cat.” Cal said, pointing at it as he kept walking. “Maybe it’s just a stray, but it was on her house…and I saw it in Thorndale too.” 

“Cal, there’s nothing there.” 

Cal stopped, looked from the cat to Mick behind him. “Are you sure?” He asked. He could see it clearly. “Right there, in the gap between those two tenements.” 

“There’s no gap between them, either.” Wes told him gently. 

“Shit.” Cal closed his eyes and sighed. When he looked again, the cat was still there, waiting for him. “It’s happening again, is it?” 

“I don’t know.” Mick looked worried again, and put a hand on Cal’s head. “I don’t think you’re being compelled again—you’re listening to reason. You stopped when we told you to. You believed us when we told you there was nothing there.”

“No I didn’t.” Cal said quietly. “I can see it there. I know it’s there. I believe you when you say you can’t see it.” Even though that didn’t make any sense. 

“Yeah.” Mick shook his head.

“He could see Tobias and we couldn’t.” Wes reminded them.

“That’s true.” Mick scowled at the place where he couldn’t see a cat, and then looked at Cal uncertainly. “Why don’t you go after it?” He said. “Carefully. I don’t sense anything magical over there, but you never know. We’ll go with you.” 

Cal nodded. “If you’re sure.” He wasn’t sure, but he trusted Mick to know what to do in situations like this, so he took a breath and crossed the rest of the street, pausing at the gap. The cat looked up at him before turning around and heading further in. It looked like an ordinary alley to Cal. “I’m going to go in.” He said to them, and took a step forward. 

The single step took him flying for just a second, the world passing by Cal in a blur. Before he even had time to shout it stopped, and Cal stumbled forward with inertia that didn’t exist, into what looked like a small cottage. It was cozy and close, with old furniture scattered about and a tidy kitchen. A firepit was in the centre, with a small flame going. An old woman was sitting at the fire on a low stool.

The cat looked at Cal one more time before leaping onto a windowsill and curling up to go to sleep. 

“What the hell is this?” 

“You were looking for me, Doomed One.” The old woman said. There was light in the cottage and it was easier to make her out than before. She was frail and pockmarked with old scar tissue all down one side of her face. Her eyes were sharp and dangerous, though. “You will always find me when you wish it.”

“I didn’t want you to kidnap me.” Cal growled. “I just had a few questions.” 

“No doubt. You’ve always been full of questions. Do not fret, Doomed One. I have never desired your enmity. You may leave whenever you wish.” She raised a bony arm and pointed behind Cal at the door to the cabin. “Two Oaks is no longer a place in which I can stay, alas.”

“Why not?” Cal asked, approaching the woman warily. There was another stool opposite her but he stood for now. 

“The Architect has not long to live.” She said, shaking her head. “But it would be a shame if he were to kill me as his final mortal act.” 

“That’s not an answer.”

“All things are answers.” The old lady smiled at him. She was missing most of her teeth. “Many of them are simply answers we do not understand or, perhaps, like.” 

“I don’t care about liking things.” Cal said, deciding to sit. “But are you going to give me answers I can understand?” 

“That is for you to decide, is it not?” The fire popped in between them. There was a pile of logs beside them, which the woman nodded at. Cal added a log to the fire. 

“Fine.” Cal sighed. “Was it you who sent Toby into the swamp, after Matthias?” 

“It was.” The woman nodded. “The Guardian was lost. I gave him direction.”

“You sent him to die.” Cal told her. The woman didn’t say anything. “You sent him to be tormented for a hundred years.” 

“There is much cruelty in the world.” The woman told him. “If I must be the cause of some of it, then so be it.”

“Tell that to the little boy who couldn’t sleep for a century.” Cal snapped. “You shouldn’t have sent him in there.”

“Had I not, the madman called Matthias would have wrought devastation. He would have opened something not meant to be opened. Began to re-stitch that which was meant to be torn.”

“What are you talking about?” 

“The Web, Doomed One.” The woman said to him fiercely. “It must not be restored. The False Prophet walks, the Architect will soon fall to give rise to the King of Nothing. Everything is in danger. You killed Matthias, did you not?”

“No.” Cal said, head spinning. “Toby did. Him and Mick.” 

The woman seemed taken aback by that, and she looked at him strangely. And laughed. “Fate is ever vagarious.” She proclaimed in a chuckle. “Very well, such are humans. You have with you the Jewel. May I see it?” 

Cal should have said no, but if the woman had wanted to steal the stupid thing, all she had to do was never let Cal leave until he starved to death. A little abashed, he reached into his pants and took it out, showed it to her. 

“Yes.” The woman looked at it, obviously apathetic to where it had come from. She gave a long sigh. “Mementos of a sad young man. Relics to the death of innocence. That one was taken from a forest called Beauty. Later they burned it to drive out those using it as cover.” 

“Is that why it raises the dead?”

“No, that power is a relic of the Shattering.” The woman looked away from the stone, back up at Cal’s face. “You must take it to the Oligarch.” 

“Only if the Oligarch is named Theodore.” Cal told her. “I have a responsibility to my client, not to you.”

The woman cackled at that, though Cal thought it turned sad at the end. “You are correct, Doomed One. You must follow your own truth, always.”

“Who is the Doomed One?” Cal asked, uncertain whether he wanted an answer. “What does that mean? I don’t…who is it that you think I am?” 

“Can you not remember?” The woman asked him. “Your vendetta? Your quest to rid the world of evil? The war you sparked, the deaths that you caused. Your own death, at the fall of thunder, the cataclysm that followed, the Shattering? Do you not remember the _end of the world,_ Nathen Jerrel De’Kerken?” Her voice became a hiss at the end, and the cat perked up on the windowsill.

Cal stood abruptly, shaking. “No.” He said, and it was true. “I don’t. I have no idea what you’re talking about. My name’s Calvin. My family are tanners in Kyaine. They’re all still alive—I didn’t start a war and I didn’t kill my brothers.” 

The woman was smiling up at him now and Cal realized that he may have responded to more than she’d said. “No doubt.” She said with a nod. “A word of advice, then, Calvin the Innocent. You would best be to go back to your tannery in the south if you wish to remain such. The Dragon bares its Fang, the Star Knight has found his Aegis. The False Prophet walks and the Traitor kneels before the Saintkiller, the Chain of the World awaits the Covenant Bearer and Warden awaits fear. The Puppeter and the Lady of Fear reunite. The Storyteller has fled, the Bard is chained to futility, the Scorpion hides its tail and the Lion prowls. A petty evil rises from the sea and Lord of Truth conceals it, while the Anchor rejoices and the Queen of Crows invites fire. The Mantis prepares, the Viper cries, the Caretaker plots, the Oligarch doubts and the Raptor cannot fly. Armageddon’s Vanguard rides, the Desperate Soul waits and the Horned Owl watches everything. The Architect has built a throne for the King of Nothing and _there are centipedes everywhere,_ Doomed One.” 

During her tirade, Cal had backed up until his back was against the door. His hand found the handle and grasped it. “You’re crazy.” He whispered. “You’re just talking nonsense.” 

“Perhaps.” The woman gave him a crooked smile. “The Guardian was not meant to kill the madman, so perhaps. The world of humans has always been beyond us in truth. They proved that well enough. Perhaps I am simply mad myself.” 

“Who are you?”

“Just a tired old woman who has seen too much of the world, Calvin the Innocent. I can no longer dance as I used to, so now I must sit and wait, wait and see if others can correct the mistake that was once made because in the end, Doomed One, you were right.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“As I said, not all answers are those we can understand, or those we like. You asked me who it was that I thought you were. Everything is an answer, Nathen, including the right question. You might have asked who it was that you think you are.” 

Cal stared her down for a second before his nerve broke and he turned the handle, letting the door open. “I know who I am.”

“Good.” The woman smiled one last time. “I could not bear to watch you die again, but allowing the world to fall to ruin would be worse. I shall be here, when you wish to speak with me again.” 

“I don’t think that will happen.”

“Nonetheless, I will continue to wait.” 

Cal shook his head and backed out, reaching to shut the door behind him. 

And he stumbled back onto a street in Two Oaks, right into Wes’s arms. “God, Cal!” He said. “What happened?”

“I…” Cal shook his head, looking around. A few people were looking their way curiously, but nobody seemed that interested. The sunlight was very bright in Cal’s eyes. “I’m not sure.”

“Was she in there?” Mick asked, coming forward and running his hands in front of Cal. “We couldn’t follow you, or pull you out.” 

“Yeah. She...didn’t really say much that was useful.” Cal muttered, straightening and patting Wes on the arm in thanks. “Which I guess I should have expected. Let’s go back to the inn? I’ll tell you about it where there aren’t people who might overhear and think I’m crazy.” The last part had been a swirl of names and Cal wasn’t sure how much of it he could specifically remember, but he would try. Just in case she wasn’t totally insane. Maybe Wes or Mick would know something he didn’t. 

“Yeah, okay. I want you to lay down, Cal.” Wes said, taking his arm and guiding him back up the street. “You look like you’ve been hit by an ox.”

“There’s nothing here.” Mick said quietly, a clear frustration in his voice. “Yeah, I agree. I want to check you out, thoroughly, to make sure nothing’s happened to you.” 

“Can I be naked for the thorough checkup?” Cal asked with a smile. 

“He’s fine.” Wes grumbled, and Mick laughed. 

Cal let them lead him back to the inn, to their room, where they could be alone. Armageddon’s Vanguard, Cal thought, even as he tried not to dwell on it. Sounded like something from scripture. Angels and demons were gone, but…

Even when they were alone and safe, and Cal had told them everything, he couldn’t dismiss his unease. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something dangerous was happening in the world.


	16. If You're Not Going to Trust the Professionals, Why Bother Asking Them?

“He’s fine.” 

“As nice as that is to hear, I’m not sure I believe it.” 

The healer smiled at Mick. She was only a little older than them, and her name was Belle. “I promise. There are no signs of residual possession, no indications that he’s mentally unstable, no damage to his brain or memory, nothing. He’s fine.” She shrugged, her pink coat jingling with whatever was in her pockets. “He doesn’t sleep enough, if you ask me, but he’s healthy.”

She’d been talking to Mick the whole time instead of Cal, which was annoying Cal. He also couldn’t place her accent, which shouldn’t have been annoying him but was. She must have been from the far west somewhere. “But I remember things that didn’t happen.” He told her. “Not a lot, but enough. The things I saw when I was holding that sword—I remember them happening.”

“Ah.” She pointed at him. “But are you remembering things that didn’t happen, or are you remembering things that didn’t happen _to you?_ ” 

“It’s the same thing.” Mick said, exasperated. “That sword put memories in his head that don’t belong there. There’s clearly something wrong.” 

“Take him to another healer if you don’t like my answer.” Belle suggested. “There’s no hint his memory’s been tampered with either. It’s possible that those were memories you had already, and the sword just…reminded you of them.” 

_Do you remember the_ end of the world, _Nathen Jerell De’Kerken?_

“I think I’d remember killing my family.” Cal growled, trying to ignore that memory. 

Belle nodded. “You’d think. Assuming it happened to you in this lifetime, anyway.” 

Cal blinked. “What?”

“Well, some people get more than one go-round in the world. Maybe it’s something from your last visit.”

All three of them looked at her for a second. “That’s heresy.” Wes said quietly. 

Belle shrugged. “Lots of things are heresy. We don’t worry about it that much where I’m from.”

“And where is that exactly?” Mick asked, looking at her in that way he did when he was about to magic someone. 

Belle just smiled at them. “Not here. I’m not obligated to tell my life story to random customers.” 

“Do people come back from the dead a lot where you’re from, then?” Cal asked, not sure if he was being serious and not sure if he wanted a serious answer. 

“Oh, no. That doesn’t happen. But sometimes people do get reincarnated, yes. The world’s not done with them, you know?”

“And you think that happened to me?”

She shrugged again. “It would explain your symptoms.” 

“So would possession.”

She turned that smile on Mick. “Yes.” She agreed. “If there was any evidence of possession. Do you poke all healers you meet with your Pillars or am I special?” 

Mick didn’t even look abashed. “Whatever magic was surrounding that cave was so sophisticated I couldn’t even recognize it. Is it possible that there’s something that’s beyond the normal possession magicks touching him?” 

Belle made a face as she thought about it. “I don’t think so.”

“The cave was sealed during the Catechism Wars.” Cal said, and she looked surprised. “If that helps.”

“Well.” Belle appeared to be thinking more seriously now. “That opens up a whole other bag of cats. Assuming the myths are true, you had angels and demons in the mix back then. And magic didn’t work the same way, or so they say.”

“I’ve never heard that.” Mick said with a frown. “Who is ‘they?’” 

“Oh, you know.” Belle waved a hand. “My teacher and some people. Might be bullshit. But…hm.” She looked at Cal again, and raised her hands at him, wiggling her fingers in a way that was not at all similar to the spells she’d used on him so far. 

“What are you doing?”

“I know a spell that’s pretty much foolproof when it comes to detecting magic touching a person.” She said. “Didn’t use it before it because it didn’t seem necessary—also he’s going to be really hungry after I use it, so take him out somewhere nice to eat.” 

“I can get behind this.” Cal said, though he didn’t like the idea of a spell that had that kind of effect on him. 

“Hold still.” 

Cal did, and Belle continued to magic at him. She was a wizard, which meant that Mick couldn’t see what kind of spells she was doing, but Cal didn’t have any reason to distrust her. 

A minute passed and Cal was suddenly _starving_ , and Belle shook her head. “He’s been touched by magic recently.” She said. “A kind I don’t recognize.” Her tone suggested that was a personal affront. 

“The old lady.” Cal muttered, digging in his bag and pulling out some bread. “She teleported me somewhere and back.”

“This was after the sword in the cave?” Belle asked, eyebrows rising. “Wow, you guys must have a lot of fun, maybe I should have gone into whatever it is that you do. That’s the only magic I sense, though. Nothing that resembles possession, memory altering, compulsion. He’s fine, honest.”

“But he’s _not._ ” Mick insisted.

“My best guess is memory inherited from a prior life.” Belle said, clearly exasperated. “I’m sorry, but that’s all I’ve got. If it _was_ possession or memory alteration, there’s no sign of it now, which means it can’t do anything more to you. My advice is to live with it.”

Cal almost laughed. “That’s your professional opinion, is it?” She nodded. 

“That’s not…”

“Okay.” Cal said, standing. “If you’re certain there’s nothing wrong.”

“I am.”

“How much do we owe you, then?” 

Even as Mick glowered beside him, Cal paid Belle and thanked her. “I’ll always feel bad saying come back next time.” Belle told them as they left. “Try not to need healing again, but if you do I’ll be here.” 

Once they were out on the street, Mick openly glared at her little shop. “Like we’d come back to her. Charlatan.” 

“She wasn’t lying.” Wes said, waving them off down the road. 

“You sure?” Cal asked. Wes nodded. “Okay.”

“What do you mean, okay?” Mick demanded. “Cal, this is serious.” 

“I know it is, Mick.” Cal said, nodding. His stomach growled. “But if she says I’m not possessed, or compelled and that my memory’s not altered, then that’s something to take into consideration at least. We can go to another healer.” He suspected they’d hear the same thing, though. 

“But you want to consider reincarnation as a possibility?” Mick asked, incredulous. 

“How does it makes any less sense than anything else?” Cal challenged. 

“Well…” Mick trailed off, thinking of an answer, and deflated a little. “I guess it’s no more impossible than anything else.” He said, a little nervous. 

“I’m not saying it’s the answer—but like you said back in Thorndale, not all questions have answers either.” _Everything is an answer, even the right question._ “If we can be sure that this isn’t going to hurt me, I’m sure I can live with it.” It would bug Cal forever, he knew, but if he had no choice then he had no choice. 

Besides, he had a feeling there was more to come. This wasn’t the end of whatever was happening. 

Wes put a hand on Mick’s shoulder, and Mick sighed. “Yeah. I just…I hate that this happened to you and I don’t even know what to call it.” 

“I know. I want to know too, Mick, but in the meantime I swear I’m okay.” Cal said, and his stomach growled again, loudly. “Can we keep talking with lunch?” He asked. “She wasn’t lying about the hungry.” 

“I saw a place with a sign that said they had seafood on the way here.” Wes said, pointing in that direction. “Let’s head there.”

“I’m suspicious of seafood this far inland.” Mick muttered, but he followed along. “After lunch we’re going to get you that compulsion ward.” 

“And we’ll visit another healer.” Wes added. “Just in case. Maybe a sorcerer, just for another opinion.” Mick nodded, though Cal knew he would prefer a mage. 

“At any point during our stay in Merket will we be making time to take the promised item to our client?” Cal asked. 

“Theodore waited the whole winter, he can wait another few days.” Wes told him. “You matter to us a lot more than he does.”

“Fine, fine.” Cal sighed dramatically, but he was smiling. “I love you guys.” 

“We love you too, now come eat before you pass out.”

If he was honest with himself, that right there was the reason why he wasn’t worried. There was no uncertainty in the world that could shake the confidence Cal had in the three of them.


	17. Assumptions are the Bane of Civilized Conversation

It took Theodore two days to respond to Cal’s missive requesting some of his time to deliver the stone. And so, when he arrived with Wes and Mick at Theodore’s house at the time he’d been given, he was just a little suspicious. Theodore had wanted this stupid thing badly enough to pay all that money; that he waited so long to answer when Cal wanted to give it to him made Cal wonder if he did have Theodore to thank for Beatrice’s ambush after all. 

“Maybe he just needed some time to get the money together for the payment.” Wes had suggested, when Cal had brought this up. 

“But he’s rich.” Cal had said, shaking his head. “I mean, is money really a problem for him?”

“You know as well as anyone that being rich doesn’t mean you have piles of gold in your house.” Mick had answered with a sigh. “The man’s not a dragon, Cal. He probably keeps his money in banks like we do.” 

For all that, he knew Mick and Wes were suspicious as well, and though they were unarmed out of courtesy when they called on Theodore, Cal was prepared for at least the possibility of a fight. 

He tried not to let that show in his stance as he made his way up the stupidly long path between Theodore’s gates and his front door. The door was opened before he was within arm’s reach of it. Cal looked at the face of the man standing there for a second, trying to recall if he knew a name to go with it. 

“Benedict.” He said, remembering as he approached polite distance. “I hope we haven’t kept you waiting behind that door.”

“No.” The manservant assured him with a dry smile and a slight incline of his head. “You are just on time, Calvin. Please be welcome—if you’ll come with me, Master Theodore is expecting you in the sitting room.” 

“Thank you.” Cal smiled at Benedict and let the man lead the three of them into the house. His demeanour, the careful way he said ‘Master,’ suggested to Cal he had been a slave at some point. Benedict didn’t greet Mick or Wes except with an acknowledging nod, and they stayed quiet for now as they followed after Cal. “How long have you worked for Theodore, Benedict?”

“Long enough to know better than to engage that line of discussion, sir.” Benedict said as he led them through a door. 

“Fair enough.” Cal said with a laugh. He looked around the hallway as they went down it, thinking that Theodore’s house had gotten even more ornate than before. Personal servants to people like Theodore often knew a great deal about what their masters were doing, but it seemed like Benedict wasn’t the type to gossip. Unfortunate. “I trust your winter was decent.”

“Overly long, sir, but not otherwise terrible. Here you are.” Benedict stopped in front of a door and knocked. “I’ve Calvin and his guests for you, sir.” 

There must have been an answer as Benedict opened the door and showed them in. Cal nodded thanks at him and entered, giving Theodore a little bow when he did. “Thank you for making the time for us today, sir.” He said to Theodore, who was sitting in a heavy armchair in front of a table. This was a different room to the one that Cal had been taken to before, less gold and with more rugs and cushions. 

Where last time Theodore had had a number of slaves attending him, today it was just one green-eyed boy, who anyone without Cal’s stature issues might have taken for younger than he probably was. Still, even Cal’s educated guess had him a good year younger than Cal himself, maybe more. The boy and Theodore seemed to have been engaged in a conversation, but when Cal came in, the slave moved off to a tray on a nearby table, carried it over to them with a careful precision to his movements. 

“Of course.” Theodore said, and there was something in his voice that Cal didn’t like. “I see you’ve brought some of your team today.”

“My whole team, sir.” Cal smiled, crossing the room to take the chair that Theodore was indicating for him. Mick stayed by the door like a guard and Wes came to stand beside Cal’s seat. There was something to be said for appearances, and even if Cal didn’t like the impression that both of them worked for rather than with him, all three of them knew it was useful at times. “This is Wesley and Michele.”

“A pleasure.” Theodore said, nodding at both of them in turn. Cal didn’t turn to look, but he assumed they both remained suitably taciturn and stoic. “I admit I did not expect to see you again so soon.” Or indeed at all, Cal heard from his tone. 

“We had more success than I dared hope for.” Cal said with a smile. Without putting down the tray, the little slave was pouring wine into a goblet, which he handed to Theodore after putting the jug down. He then started pouring one for Cal as well. “Turns out your stone was in the possession of a historical villain.” Cal reached into the pocket he’d moved the stone to for this meeting, pulled it out and set it on the table between them. Theodore looked at it, looking surprised for just a moment before concealing it. 

“You’ve a talent for forcing questions, young man.” Theodore said, eyes on the stone. 

“Nobody’s ever told me that before.” Cal said, keeping his face calm even as wheels clattered in his head. He hated conversations like this, formalized sparring matches where some of the words had poison tips. “I’m afraid you’re not the only one with questions, however.”

“Indeed.” Theodore directed a small smile at him. “Though before we trade questions, I am afraid I must ask for an explanation.”

“If it’s within my power to explain.” Cal said, trying not to anticipate anything in particular. It occurred to him that they’d let him come in here with two supposed guards, and he tried to keep an eye on the dark-haired slave, eyes on the floor as he pretended not to hear anything that was being said. He didn’t have the look of a bodyguard, but Cal was testament to looks being deceiving, and there was a grace in the way the boy moved that Cal could imagine being dangerous if he wanted it to be. 

“I suspect it is.” Theodore nodded at the stone. “Might you explain to me how it is that this stone came into my possession some weeks ago?” 

_Weeks ago?_ Beatrice couldn’t have gotten back to Merket that quickly. It was impossible. He felt Wes tense at his shoulder and could practically hear Mick stiffen at the door. Cal kept his face clear of emotion. “So it was you.” He said, leaning forward a little. Sure enough, that little slave went still in a barely noticeable way. 

“Was it?” Theodore asked, his own face masked as well. “And what, pray, have I done?”

“You hired Beatrice to ambush us, to steal the stone from us.” Cal said, looking at Theodore, searching his face, his posture, for anything. He shook his head a little. “If you wanted to save money that badly, you could have offered us half of what you did, we’d still have taken the job.” As he spoke, Cal reached out and took the stone back off the table, out of Theodore’s reach. 

Theodore tented his hands and looked over them at Cal for a long minute, not saying anything, calculating. Then he reached into his own pocket and pulled out an identical stone, put it on the table in place of the one Cal had removed. “A young man named Pascal sold this to me. I’d hired him to acquire one like it, and to my surprise, he arrived with this one in hand as well. I confess I’d assumed you had chosen to make a higher profit selling it to someone else. I know nobody named Beatrice, I’m afraid.” 

Now Cal frowned, looking at the decoy on the table. “Interesting.” He said after a minute, looking up at Theodore. “I don’t have an answer for you. But I think we both assumed incorrectly.” 

“Perhaps we did.” Theodore said carefully. “Perhaps the one who hired your Beatrice is the same source whence Pascal acquired the stone.” 

“You have a competitor.” Cal said, cutting to the point. 

“So it seems.” Theodore mused. “So, how, then, is it that there are two stones?”

“A decoy spell.” Cal nodded at it. “That’s a pebble I found in my boot one morning. Enchanted to appear similar to the real stone. If you have a practitioner on your payroll, you could verify that.”

“I shall.” Theodore nodded. “No offence meant, but given the situation I’m sure you understand.” Cal nodded. “If he bears your story out, you shall have the full payment promised.”

“He will.” Cal promised. He kept the real stone in his hand for now. “I should like to know the significance of this stone.” 

Theodore’s perfect eyebrows went up. “I wasn’t given to understand that people in your profession made a habit of such questions.”

“They’re not.” Cal said, fixing Theodore with a flat look. “But a man turned himself into a monster to use this stone’s power. A boy lost his life guarding it. And someone tried very hard to make sure you didn’t get it.” And a crazy old lady who might have known Cal in a previous life thought it was tied to the end of the world. 

“It’s very valuable.” Theodore said. “I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you.”

“That isn’t good enough.” Cal told him with a shake of the head. “Did you know anything about this stone? The circumstances of where it was, who had it? Anything you didn’t tell me?” 

Theodore affixed Cal with a look now. “I didn’t. You sound to have a personal investment in this, Calvin.”

“Do you believe in heroes, sir?” Cal asked. “The kind that they write stories about?” 

Theodore’s look became contemplative. “I suppose so. I confess I’ve never met one, but the stories must come from somewhere, mustn’t they?” 

“I’ve met one.” Cal told Theodore, nodding. “I didn’t believe that people like that were real until recently. But this stone was being guarded by a hero, a real one. His name was Toby, and he spent a hundred years making sure that a psychopath didn’t use it to take over the world. I want to make sure that I didn’t help him only to hand it over to someone who wants the same thing.”

Theodore did a good show of understanding, or at least appearing to. Cal suspected he was very good at pretending. It must be frustrating to live with him. “I shall give you my word, then. I have no ill intentions for the stone. It is, as you have doubtless noticed, a powerful magical artefact. My desire, Calvin, is to set it on a shelf and ensure that nobody ever touches it again.” 

The conviction in Theodore’s voice got to Cal, and he believed Theodore. “Okay.” He said after a minute, and he put the stone back down on the table. “If you’re lying, know that I’ll be back for it.” 

“I would expect no less from someone in whom I put my trust.” Theodore said with a nod. He stood. “Please wait here for just a moment.” 

Cal nodded, glancing at Mick, who moved clear of the door. Theodore left the room, leaving the little slave behind, probably so the three of them couldn’t talk—or do anything funny with the stones. 

For the first time Cal looked properly at the slave. He had stood there impassively through the entire conversation and was still doing that, quiet as if the room were empty. “How old are you?” Cal asked him on impulse.

The slave looked up at him, eyes boring into Cal’s. 

“I’m not going to tattle on you to your master.” Cal said, trying for reassuring. It couldn’t be an easy life this kid had. It never hurt to be spoken to like a person every once in a while. Most of the slaves that Cal had seen had a broken look about them, but he didn’t. 

At least not yet. 

“Does it matter?” The boy finally asked.

Cal smiled sadly. “No, I guess it doesn’t. What’s your name?” 

“Daniel.”

It wasn’t right. It might be legal in Merket, and across the ocean, and in a few places down south, but slavery was just wrong. Especially when it was pretty obvious that Theodore showed a clear preference for what type of slave he liked. Humans were meant to be free. “I wish I could help you.” Cal said quietly, without meaning to. A part of him considered asking Theodore for the boy’s freedom instead of money. 

But he knew that would just offend Theodore, and not actually help Daniel. And even if Theodore agreed, then what? He couldn’t just turn Daniel out on the street, at his age with no money or possessions to his name. He’d have to come work with the three of them or he’d either starve to death or end up selling himself back into slavery for food. It had happened to a lot of people before, Cal knew. 

Daniel’s look got even more intense, though he masked it. “I don’t need your help.” He muttered, taking the two untouched wine goblets from the table and turning away to put the platter with the wine jug back on the table. 

“Sorry.” Cal said, a little weakly. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I’m not offended, sir.” Daniel said politely, with his back still turned. “Slaves don’t have feelings to hurt.”

“Of course. I feel I should at least warn you—you’re not as good at hiding your emotions as you think.” Daniel stiffened just perceptibly at that. “I suggest that you take a second to name every emotion as you feel it. Naming things makes it easier to control them.” 

“I…” Daniel finished tidying up the platter and was left with no choice but to turn again. His face was a mask of calm again. “I’m not supposed to talk to you.” He said finally, to the floor. 

“Right, sorry.” Cal glanced up at Wes and the four of them waited in silence for a few minutes until Theodore returned. 

“I’ve summoned a friend who can verify the authenticity of the stone.” Theodore told them, though Cal noted that his first glance on entering the room was towards Daniel. “It may take some time for him to arrive. I wonder if you’ll join me for lunch in the meantime.” 

“Of course.” Cal smiled, and stood. 

“Good.” Theodore smiled as well. “I should like to hear the details of the story you told me earlier, about the hero who guarded the stone.”

“I only know the end of the story.”

“The end is the best part of any story, isn’t it?” Theodore asked, and gestured for Cal to join him at the door. Cal reached down and took the stone from the table, and made very visible that he was taking the decoy in his other hand to give to Theodore. No need to make room for accusations. “Benedict will show you to the dining room. I have some brief business and then I’ll join you.”

“Of course, sir.” Cal suspected Daniel was the ‘brief business,’ but he nodded and gestured for Mick and Wes to follow him from the room. “I hope you haven’t been standing here in the hallway this whole time.” He said to Benedict out in the hallway, once the door was closed behind them. 

“You overestimate the length of your conversation, sir.” Benedict said. Cal liked him. “If you’ll follow me.” 

“Of course.” 

The dining room was the tackiest of all the rooms Cal had seen yet in Theodore’s house, full of tall statues of saints that Cal immediately disliked. He’d never understood piety that could have bought a small village. There was already a table set, for four. “The three of you may take seats.” Benedict told them, making to retreat. “The master will join you momentarily.” 

“Thank you.” Cal looked around the room as Benedict left, leaving the doors open. It seemed empty. “Sorry, guys.” He muttered, quietly. 

“It’s okay.” Wes patted Cal on the shoulder. “Free lunch.” 

“I don’t like him.” Mick’s voice was a little louder than theirs. “But I think he was telling the truth before.” Wes nodded in agreement. “Makes me wonder who he thinks he’s guarding the stone from, though.” 

“A shadow that thinks people are things?” Cal suggested. Mick nodded grimly. “I’ll see if I can get more out of him while we eat.” 

“It always kind of freaks me out to hear you talk so formally to people.” Wes admitted. “I don’t know how you do it without wanting to punch someone.”

“I don’t. I just don’t punch them.” Cal smiled at the chuckles that got him. “At least he’s going to pay us.” He said, setting the stone on the table beside his empty plate. 

“Yeah.” Mick agreed with a sigh. “At least there’s that. I can’t figure out how Beatrice got here so fast. She must have had some help.”

“Magic?” Cal asked, and Mick nodded.

“Do you ever get the feeling there’s something bigger going on?” Cal muttered, glancing up at one of the saints. He was covering his eyes, and Cal tried to remember which saint did that. 

It was only a few minutes before Theodore joined them again, without little Daniel. “Sorry for the wait.” He said, taking the last seat. And setting the decoy on the table beside his own plate. 

“No trouble at all, sir.” 

“As I said,” Theodore told them, “I would like to hear your story. But first, I wonder if you might entertain a little more business. This stone was not the only relic I hope to keep out of dangerous hands.”

Cal straightened a little in his chair. When they’d met before, Theodore had said he was looking for a number of things. “And you’d like us to help you, I presume?”

“You’ve proven competent thus far. Tell me, have any of you ever of the Sea King’s Regalia?”


	18. Those Who Work too Much Are Bound to Come in Late on Personal Time

Cal yawned, making his way up the stairs of the inn. Gathering information meant sitting around in a lot of taverns talking to a lot of people, and Cal liked talking to lots of people, but he also liked sleeping and too many people liked to talk into all hours of the night. 

He’d heard lots of rumours and stories about dragons and messiahs and nobility of various stripes and all of it was potentially useful at some point for him, but now he wanted to go to bed. Mick and Wes had gone up an hour earlier and left him to it, since it was more Cal’s area than either of theirs anyway, and all Cal wanted right now was to cuddle into bed in between them and sleep for a few hours. 

Fishing the key out of his shirt, Cal paused to yawn again before aiming it at the lock, getting it in place on the second try and turning it the wrong way at first. By the time he finally got the stupid door unlocked, Cal considered the fact that the door opened properly when he pushed on it to be a victory. 

He was trying to be quiet, figuring that he’d find the other two asleep when he entered the room. Turned out he’d been wrong. 

Mick was on top of Wes, his knees on Wes’s shoulders and his mouth on Wes’s cock, and Wes, propped up into a half-sitting position with the pillows, had his face buried between Mick’s thighs. Cal paused on coming in, letting the door swing shut behind him, just watching the two of them for a second. 

Mick must have heard the door close, because he looked up from his task and smiled, lifting off Wes to talk to Cal. “Hey. You took a long time.” 

“Yeah.” Cal said vaguely, thoughts of going to sleep slowly fading. He turned and locked the door behind him. “Glad you weren’t bored without me. Don’t let me interrupt.” 

“You’re not interrupting.” Mick assured him.

Wes shifted and lifted his head to see Cal as well, smiling wickedly. “Not at all. Come and join in.”

Cal stretched slowly, just taking in the sight of the two of them. He gestured for them to continue. “In a few minutes. I’ll watch for a bit.” 

Mick shrugged as best he could and went back to work on Wes, and Wes similarly disappeared. Cal took a breath and started undressing slowly, trying to stretch some of the tired out from his muscles as he did. 

He didn’t touch himself yet, letting the last of his clothes fall onto the floor as he watched. Mick was working Wes slowly, and Cal could see him periodically tense from whatever Wes was doing back there. The only sounds in the room were the two of them, slurping and grunting and moaning. Cal sat on the bed beside them, rubbing Mick’s back as he did his thing, leaning back to see Wes with is face buried between Mick’s legs, penetrating Mick with his tongue and one finger. 

Not able to hold back, Cal started stroking himself slowly, taking in the scene in front of him with a smile on his face, looking up and down his friends’—lovers’—bodies. He ran a finger down Wes’s leg, liking how tense the muscles were. His eyes, travelling, watched Mick bob up and down for a bit, and Wes’s balls, hanging heavy, and further down, where in between Wes’s legs was a pretty noticeable mess. “Looks like I missed more than I thought.” Cal muttered, reaching down and taking a swipe of Mick’s cum on a finger, tasting it thoughtfully. “And here I thought you were just getting started.”

Mick smiled around Wes, and Wes pulled back to answer. “We’ve been waiting for you a while.” He said with a grin, which had to have been hard with Mick sucking on him like that. “Enough time to go and rest and start over.” He tapped Mick on the thigh. “You ready?” He asked.

Mick pulled back, leaving Wes glistening behind him, a line of saliva joining them. “Yeah.” He looked up at Cal. “I’m going to try having Wes put it in me.” 

“Holy shit.” Cal said, shuddering a little as just the thought of it made him need to slow down a little. “Mick, he’s not going to fit.”

“Sure I am.” Wes said, gently easing Mick off of him, and Cal watched rapt as the two of them repositioned, Mick getting onto his hands and knees and Wes positioning behind him. “Don’t worry, we were careful. You want to watch, Cal?” 

“Yeah.” Cal breathed, leaning in despite himself, transfixed by just how big Wes was in his own hand as he aimed himself towards Mick’s hole. He kept stroking himself in one hand and put his other one on Mick’s calf, worrying at his lip as Wes pressed his head against Mick and slowly, with a grunt, inside. 

“Fuck.” Mick whispered. Fisting the sheets. Cal could see his toes curling. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Slowly, okay?” 

“Yeah.” Wes slowly pushed in a little further, and then out, leaving the head inside before pushing back. Cal kept palming himself as he watched, his breath coming in tune with Wes’s thrusts, which were getting deeper and deeper, more and more of him disappearing inside Mick. It didn’t seem real, it didn’t seem possible. Mick was moaning with each stroke, in obvious discomfort, but Cal didn’t think he was in specific pain. 

With a sudden long thrust and an almost-growl, Wes buried himself inside Mick, and Cal came as he watched, letting out a pitiful moan as he splattered his hand and Mick’s leg. “God, Wes.” He managed.

Wes didn’t answer, just leaned in over Mick, breathing hard. “I’m all the way in, baby.” 

“God…” Mick said, face contorted as he tried to get used to it. Wes kissed him a few times around the ear, on the neck, until they were both calmer. “Okay.” Mick finally nodded. “Okay, you can move, Wes.” 

And so Wes did, and Cal got hard all over again as he watched Wes slide in and out of Mick, who was stretched obscenely to accommodate him. They moved back and forth, rocking the bed a little. Cal could hear it creaking in addition to all their breathing, to Mick’s moans and Wes’s grunts. 

“Oh God, Wes.” Mick’s breath started to pick up, his cries becoming a bit more desperate. “God, oh God. Keep going, keep going, please…” 

“Mick…” Wes tensed up really suddenly, slamming into Mick harder than he had been, both of them crying out as Wes came inside Mick with another growl, holding him tight for a solid minute as he did. Cal could see some of his cum overflowing out of the hole. Just as he was finishing Mick spasmed as his own orgasm hit him, and he buried his face in the sheets as he made a mess of them. 

“Fuck.” Cal whimpered, touching himself again. He would do anything to watch that again, all the time.

Finally, with a long sigh from both of them, Wes pulled out of Mick and fell back on his haunches, looking up at the ceiling as if in prayer. 

“Cal…” Mick muttered, panting. “You too.” 

“What?”

“You too, come on. I want you to have a turn.”

“You sure?” Looking at him, Cal wasn’t sure Mick could take any more. 

“Yeah. You’ll last two minutes anyway. I want to feel you too.”

“You’re barely going to after taking Wes’s monster.” Cal said with a weak chuckle, but after a moment’s hesitation, he got up on his knees and crawled around behind Mick, pausing when he felt Wes’s hands on his backside. “Worried I’ll get lost?” 

“Maybe.” Wes smiled at him and guided Cal forward. Cal noticed that his fingers were slick with something, and just as he caught on, Wes started probing around, entering Cal from behind as Cal entered Mick with a sound akin to a hiss. 

Somehow he’d expected lots of room inside Mick since he was following up on Wes, but Mick was plenty tight and his prediction that Cal would last two minutes was going to tend towards the generous, especially since he could feel Wes’s cum slicking around inside as he moved.

Within the first few thrusts Cal could feel another orgasm building up inside him, and it hit just as Wes decided to add a second finger. Cal came with a yelp, pushing sharply into Mick as he added his own seed to the mess inside him. 

Mick’s knees gave out as Cal finished and they all sort of collapsed on top of each other, breathing. Wes’s fingers were still inside Cal, working patiently. “Fuck.” Mick whispered. “That was good.”

“Just good?” Wes asked from behind Cal. “Should I try again?” 

“Shut up. You know what I meant.”

“Yeah, I did.” Cal could feel Wes smiling. “You did good, Cal.”

“You say that like I’ve never topped before.” Cal yawned, the tired coming back. “You can just get that idea out of your head, by the way. Mick is big like you—you’re never going to fit inside me.” 

“We’ll see.” Wes smiled, pulling his fingers out and wiping them on the bed as he moved to lay beside Mick, pulling Cal onto his chest to lay there. “You didn’t think I’d fit in Mick either.” 

“It’s good, Cal.” Mick reported, cuddling up beside Wes. “It’s really good. You should try.” 

“You guys are too big.” Cal didn’t think either of them would hurt him, but…

“You don’t need to be scared, Cal.” Wes said, reaching out and squeezing Mick’s hand. “We won’t force you if you don’t want to.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Cal sighed, nestling a little. “It’s a little intimidating is all. And if you ever repeat that I’ll punch you in the balls.”

“Because you can’t kick high enough to reach?” Mick asked with a poke.

“Fuck you.”

“You already did.” Mick smiled. “Next time I want to suck Wes while you do.”

“Oh, God.” Cal muttered, closing his eyes against the image. “I’m too tired for this.”

“Yeah, it’s late.” Wes agreed. “Let’s sleep for now.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, okay. Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight.” Cal answered, yawning again. 

“Goodnight, guys.” Wes echoed. “Love you.” And he held them both tighter, and like that they drifted off.


	19. Supernatural Forces Would Be Easier to Deal with if They Weren't Always So Cryptic

The cathedral in White Cape was built into the side of the hill that the city sat on, and the inside was a network of stairs and weird ledges that made the whole place feel like the inside of some perspective painting. 

Two days spent here in the cathedral’s library had been enough to convince Cal that he never wanted to be a priest, but also that everyone who claimed to know what scripture meant was either crazy or way smarter than him. 

Cal had always fancied himself smart, so that was really saying something. 

“God.” Cal muttered, reading a line about people being dunked in rivers of molten lead. “The end of the world is going to suck.” 

“Only for the sinners.” Cal looked up to see one of the priests of the church, a young man named Raphe. He was too pretty to be a priest, Cal thought. He sat on the bench beside Cal and looked over at what he was reading. He was a full priest despite his age, dressed in the black and blue cassock. He had a silver saint’s icon on a small chain around his neck. 

“Are you sure about that?” Cal asked. Wes and Mick were here with him, but they were off in the shelves, looking for anything that might tell them anything about, well, anything. “It says here that…” He paused, hovering his finger over the line he wanted. “‘And the blessed shall be violated, flayed of their virtue and arrested in molten sin.’”

“It does say that.” Raphe agreed with a nod. “But it also says that this will be their reward for living saintly lives.”

“But…” Cal shook his head. “Torture really isn’t a reward—at least not where I’m from.” 

“What you have to understand is that the language is metaphorical.” Raphe said, leaning back a little on the bench. “It uses violent language, but it’s doing it to get across the opposite point.”

“But why would it do that?” Cal demanded. He’d always just sort of assumed that religion made sense. It was a bit frustrating to find out it didn’t. He was getting tired of things that didn’t make sense. “Why can’t it just say straight-out what it means?”

“Because salvation is work.” Raphe smiled at him. “And because the rhetoric is more powerful using certain language. You have to remember that when this was written, followers of the Catechism were having a hard time, and were often being killed for their faith. It stands to reason that when you live in a violent world, your idea of the future will be violent too.” 

Cal nodded, supposing that made a little bit of sense. “Still.” He persisted. “I’m sorry for being so rude, just it seems like if you were having a hard time, you’d want the future to be nice.”

“Well, this is also revelation, don’t forget. The writer of this can’t help what he or she saw, right? But you’re not wrong—and most modern translations of that line say something like…” Raphe looked up for a moment, trying to remember. “‘And the blessed shall be washed, clothed in virtue and purified of all sin.’” 

So they just changed it to the exact opposite of what it said to make people feel better. That didn’t sit well with Cal either. “Then why doesn’t this one say that?” He asked.

“Well, you’re not reading a translation, for starters.” Raphe pointed out, and Cal started to say he was, but he looked down at the book in his hands, at the letters and words in front of him, and realized it wasn’t the language he’d grown up reading. 

“Right.” Cal shivered a little though it was hot, closed the book and set it aside. He hadn’t noticed that when he’d picked it up. 

“You okay?” Raphe asked, putting a hand on Cal’s shoulder. 

“This is just a little overwhelming.” Cal muttered, and he wasn’t sure if he was talking about the research or what had just happened. Even if Belle had been right and there was nothing wrong with him, he wasn’t okay with things he didn’t know just surfacing in his head. 

“Divine word is supposed to be overwhelming.” Raphe said, nodding understandingly. “Maybe I can help. What specifically are you looking for?” 

Cal considered the pros and cons of telling him. The pros were that Raphe might be able to help and that Cal would never see him again after he, Wes and Mick went south, and the cons were that he would have to ask someone for help. “Armageddon’s Vanguard.” 

“Hm.” Raphe appeared thoughtful for a moment. “I’ve never seen that term come up in any scripture.” 

Cal couldn’t decide if he should be relieved or annoyed. “The Gatekeeper of Shadow?”

Raphe shook his head. “That one either.”

“Child of Misfortune?”

“No.”

“The Doomed One?” Cal asked, trying not to appear too visibly nervous. 

Raphe frowned, considering, and Cal’s stomach clenched, but ultimately the priest shook his head. “Sorry. That one’s a little vague and lots of people are called ‘doomed,’ but you make it sound like a name and there’s definitely nobody in scripture named that.” 

“Okay.” Cal sighed a little. That one was definitely a comfort. The pedantic part of him wanted to run through the list of every last proper name the old lady had thrown at him to see if any of them would stick, but it seemed unlikely. Besides, he didn’t really remember most of them. 

“That all?” Raphe asked.

“Yeah…” Cal hesitated. Maybe a few more wouldn’t hurt. “Is there an Oligarch?” 

“No.” Raphe smiled at him. “Where are you getting all these names?” 

“Crazy person shouted them to me on the street one day.”

“You shouldn’t lie to a priest.”

“I shouldn’t lie to anyone, technically.” Cal pointed out. 

“Fair enough. Maybe I can’t help, but I might be able to be of some comfort, at least. There aren’t actually that many named people in apocalyptic literature, which is all you’ve been reading, I’ve noticed.”

“I’m not allowed to be worried that the world might end?” Cal smiled, wondering of Raphe would tell him that not all apocalyptic literature was about the end of the world. It was something Cal would have pointed out. He wondered what was taking Wes and Mick so long. 

“It’s going to end someday, whether you’re worried about it or not.” Raphe shrugged. He didn’t bother to point out the distinction. “Or maybe it won’t, and the whole genre is just a metaphor for something. But to make you feel better, all you usually see is some angels, some demons, most of whom don’t have names or are just named after the virtues or sins they represent. There are prophets, usually, but they have ordinary person names, not titles. You get crowds of people, God is there sometimes, and the messiah, of course, he’s pretty easy to spot as the One Who Will Come or something like that. The Empty Lord is in some of it.” Raphe paused, thinking. “Some apocalypses have weird monsters with funny names, but they’re names like the Red Kingdom and the Thorn of Creation, so you’d know them when you saw them.” 

Cal nodded. That sure was a nice summary, he thought. Could have saved him two days of reading, and accidentally learning a new language by reincarnation magic. “The Empty Lord is the devil, right?”

“Yes, it’s a name for him you only see in apocalypses. You probably saw him a few times.” 

“Yeah.” Cal had. “He kind of sucks.” Always tormenting the innocent and raging against the earthly purity of God’s chosen, that sort of thing. 

“That’s the idea, yes. If you’d read a few more pages into that one, he’d have shown up again, though out of translation the name wouldn’t have been the same.”

“Oh?” Cal couldn’t pretend not to be interested, and looked down at the book he’d been looking at before. “Why?”

“We didn’t know Dynese very well when we started translating a lot of this scripture, so we thought the term was Empty Lord when we came across it the first time.” Raphe picked up the book and flipped through it, finding the page he wanted and showing it to Cal. “It’s this term here, _toek_. Later study tells us that it’s a noun, not an adjective, so a better translation might be the King of Empti _ness_ , or…”

“Nothing.” Cal interrupted, looking down at the word. “The King of Nothing.” 

“Right, that would be a pretty good way of translating it.” Raphe nodded. “Maybe you should be a priest…Cal? Are you okay?”

Cal was looking down at the line Raphe had shown him. “‘And from his high throne, the King of Nothing shall break the bones of the innocent, and the earth shall weep under his reign, and a coalition of the righteous shall rise against him, and he shall be dashed against the ground in the last days.’” He looked up from the book, and he knew his face was pale. “I have a list of names I need to ask you about.” 

“I had a feeling you might say that.” Raphe nodded, looking serious. “Tell me though, really. Where did you hear them?”

Cal paused. “An old lady who might have been crazy.” He admitted. “And might have been immortal. And who lived in a house that didn’t exist in a gap that didn’t exist between two houses that did.” 

Raphe went silent for a long moment, looking away. The sun was setting outside, and the light coming in through the stained glass windows was casting the entire church in rainbows of colour. “Did she have a cat?”

Freezing cold, Cal nodded. 

“Be careful of her, Calvin.” Raphe warned. He looked tired. “I don’t think she wants to hurt you, but I also don’t know what she does want.”

“You know her?” Cal’s mind exploded with a thousand questions at once, the first one being why some random priest in White Cape knew an old lady in Two Oaks. 

“We met once. Now….”

“Cal?” 

Cal looked up, saw Mick standing there with two books in his arm. Wes was behind him, trying to scrunch a little. The stacks were pretty narrow. “What are you doing?”

“I’m just talking to Brother Raphe. Mick, he knows the old lady.” Cal was scared as hell, but now that the two of them were here with him, it was fine. Whatever Raphe ended up saying about her, it would be fine. 

“Cal, there’s nobody there.” 

“No.” Cal turned, looked back at the spot where Raphe had been sitting. “No, Mick, he was definitely there. He was real, I’m sure of it. He touched my shoulder, I felt him.” He was shivering again, and not from the cold this time. Churches were supposed to be safe, and Cal didn’t feel safe. 

“I believe you.” Mick set his books down and came to sit beside Cal, taking his hand. He didn’t do the magic he usually did to make sure Cal wasn’t being compelled. Just held his hand. Wes put a hand on Cal’s shoulder and the three of them just sat there for a minute. 

“Why is this happening?” Cal whispered, into the silent church. 

“I don’t know.” 

“We’ll figure it out, though.” Wes promised. “We’ll figure it out, Cal.”

Cal nodded, taking deep breaths. “I know. I know we will. I’m just…I’m scared.”

“Don’t be scared.” Mick raised Cal’s hand and kissed the back of it. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

“That’s right.”

“I love you guys.”

“Let’s get out of here.” Wes suggested, looking around the church. “It’s getting dark anyway.”

“We can come back tomorrow.” Mick agreed.

“No.” Cal shook his head. He wanted answers, he did. But he didn’t want to come back here. “We need to get ready to leave White Cape if we’re going to make that summer festival in Pelican Bay.” 

“Alright.” Wes gave Cal a hand to stand, and the two of them escorted Cal out of the cathedral and into the darkening streets of White Cape. 

It wasn’t until later that night, when he was undressing for bed, that Cal found around his neck, on a fine chain, a small silver saint’s icon.


	20. Business Rivals Are Best Greeted with a Forced Civility in Public

The Shore Road that ran from White Cape down the coast was actually pretty nice to walk on, especially considering it didn’t lead anywhere very important, all things considered. It was stone, raised a nice height above the ground, reasonably well maintained, and walking along the coast made for a nice view of the ocean the whole way. 

It was also nice and wide open, removing the possibility for an ambush, and Cal liked that a lot. He was tired of being ambushed. He was tired of things happening that came out of nowhere. He was tired of things happening that he couldn’t predict or explain. 

He could feel his life starting to descend into chaos, and he was tired of that too. 

“Do you think they ever stop doing that?” Wes was asking Mick as they walked south. 

“Probably not.” Mick shrugged, looking up at the flock of seabirds screeching above their heads. “That’s pretty much what birds do.”

“Regular birds never shut up either,” Cal reminded Wes, stretching out one of his arms as he walked. He wasn’t going to walk around in a depressed haze, or spend all of his time being worried. He refused to let whatever was happening ruin his life. He was going to spend time with the people he loved, no matter how many weird people talked to him or gave him mysterious jewelry. 

“It’s less annoying on land,” Wes grumbled, looking up at the gulls and shaking his head at them in disapproval.

“No, it really isn’t.” Mick shook his head. 

“I’m with Wes on this one,” Cal said. “These guys are louder and stupider. And not as classy as land birds.” 

“Do birds have a hierarchy of class?” 

“Of course. Peacocks are at the top.” 

“Peacocks are tacky as shit,” Mick disagreed immediately. “Falcons are the classiest birds.” 

“There are so many reasons why you’re objectively wrong about that. One…” 

“Cal,” Wes interrupted. 

“I see them.” There was a group of people coming up a slope in the road ahead of them, just coming into view now. Even from here Cal could see that it was Beatrice and her people, and he wondered what she’d been doing down the coast. 

He kept walking, unconcerned. “If this were like last time, they wouldn’t be wandering up the road at us,” he told them. Wes and Mick nodded, though he knew that Mick would have his magic ready and Wes would be holding his hand near his axe. 

Beatrice and her five people kept walking as well, until they were all about to draw level, when Beatrice came to a halt, holding out a hand for her team to do the same. Cal walked a few steps closer before doing the same himself. He stayed just far enough away that he wouldn’t have to look up at her. “Nice day,” he said to her.

“Too hot, if you ask me,” Beatrice answered, looking at Cal warily. 

“Coming back from Pelican Bay?” Cal asked. It was the next major city that this road would lead to. 

Beatrice nodded. “And you’re headed that way. A job?”

“If it were, would you follow me so you could rob us?” Cal asked, smiling a little. “No, we’re taking a vacation. It’s summer.”

Relaxing a little, Beatrice smiled too. “Must be nice to have so little work you can take a vacation.” 

Behind her, Cal watched her people. She may have relaxed, but none of them really had. Lillian, a slender woman with long hands, was watching Mick carefully. Boris and Adrianna had hands near their bow and knives, respectively. Cal didn’t know the other two men, the bearded one who’d stripped him before and the younger guy whose arm he’d tried to break. The former looked pretty okay, but the latter was tense. 

“Not really. It’s more that we made so much money selling that stone that we can afford it.” Cal said, enjoying the way Beatrice’s face scrunched up just a little at that. He shrugged. “I tried to tell you the real stone was the one you tossed away.” 

“You’re full of shit.”

“Am I? Go back to your employer and have him test it—or don’t, since he’ll find out you sold him a pebble.” Of course, Cal knew that Beatrice’s employer didn’t have the fake stone anymore anyway, seeing as someone had stolen it and given it to Theodore, but she didn’t need to know he knew that. “Maybe get better at robbing people, I don’t know.”

Beatrice regarded Cal for a moment longer before laughing. “Fine, whatever. It’s in the past anyway.”

“Sure.” It very much wasn’t. “You on your way back from a job, or to one?”

For just a moment, it looked like Beatrice didn’t know how to answer that. “Back from one,” she finally said. “Recovering some stolen property.”

Ah, wasn’t that interesting. Cal was pretty sure it wasn’t in Pelican Bay. “Well, you’d be the expert.” 

Except, Cal realized belatedly, if she was looking for the stone that had been stolen from her mystery employer, Cal had just told her where it was by telling her that he’d sold it. So that sucked, but it also wasn’t his job to protect Theodore’s assets forever. 

Still, Cal felt kind of bad about it. Maybe next time they saw Theodore after finding this Sea King’s Regalia he’d mention it. Hopefully the lead that Theodore had suggested for them in Pelican Bay would pan out. After the vacation part of the trip, obviously. 

“We all have to have our strengths, Cal,” Beatrice said, smiling. “On that note, we ought to get going. Some of us do have to earn a living.”

“Of course.” Cal smiled back. “Don’t let us get in your way, Beatrice. It was nice seeing you again.”

“You too, Cal. We should try to catch up more often.”

Cal nodded, and he, Wes and Mick made exactly no effort to move out of Beatrice’s way, forcing her and her team to part around them to keep heading north. Only once they’d moved by did Cal start walking again, and only once they were a sufficient distance away did he let out the breath he’d been holding. “Bitch,” he muttered, shaking his head. 

“I’m surprised you managed to hold that in through the entire conversation,” Wes said, patting Cal on the back. “Did it hurt?”

“It’s called professionalism,” Cal told him, pointing a figure to emphasize the point. “And knowing that we outsmarted her last time, which means we’re winning.”

“Winning what?”

“I don’t know, the game of who can be better than everyone else? We’re definitely beating her. She sucks.”

“So it’s actually pettiness,” Mick observed.

“Yes, but whatever.” Cal grinned. “We’re still winning and she just wasted God knows how long on a fool’s errand.”

“Life is good.” Wes smiled.

“Yes,” Cal agreed, and he kept walking south. “And peacocks are the classiest birds. Falcons are just dogs that can fly.”

“Well, that doesn’t make sense, but I think you’ve forgotten that swans are a thing.”

“Swans are the worst,” Mick objected. “It’s falcons. They’re underappreciated.” 

“You’re both lucky I love you, because that’s the only reason I’m so willing to put up with how wrong you both are about this,” Cal told them, and that was how they spent most of the rest of the day.


	21. Getting out of Bed Is the Hardest Part of the Day

_It was dark in here. Dark, and warm, and he couldn’t move._

_It had been dark for a long time, with just a few minutes of light a while ago. So long since he’d seen anyone, so long since there’d even_ been _anyone. He was broken now, and it hurt. He always hurt, had always hurt. Maybe would always hurt._

_He wasn’t alone. One of them, one of_ them, _was here, one of the puppets, dancing on the spider’s thread. There was no light. A jangle of metal._

_“Aw, damn.” The puppet said. “I thought it must have been you, Char.”_

_There was no response but an empty sadness._

_“Okay, well.” A sigh. “I’ve got to leave you here, kid. But you did good. They never found it, Char. I’ll take it with me, okay? I can handle it from here. You did good, kid.”_

_A scrape of metal, a hot touch, tinged by the distant association with something antithetical. “All this time, and the world still doesn’t make any damn sense.”_

_A loud snap, and the darkness swirled around, and around, and everything was moving and it was too much to keep track of, and…_

Cal woke up with a headache, blinking his eyes open in the dawn light that persisted despite the curtains that were up in the inn’s window. He was laying mostly on top of Mick even though it was way too hot for that, because apparently Sleeping Cal hated both of them. 

Wes was on Mick’s other side, having had enough sense to pull away in his sleep and not melt them all, though he and Mick were holding hands. It was too hot for blankets, and they were all three of them stark naked. 

How far they’d come, Cal thought, watching the two of them breathe. He pulled himself away from Mick, noting with a bit of resignation that they were both already sweating. He kind of liked that in a way, but that ended at the part where they had to put clothes on and wear them all day. 

Cal sat, stretching but trying to be quiet about it. He actually wanted nothing more than to stay in this bed here forever, just laying with the two of them. Maybe he’d try to talk them into it when they woke up. They were on vacation, after all. 

Unfortunately, he was parched from sleep, so Cal regretfully slid off the bed and quietly made his way over to the water basin on the other side of the room they were renting. He was hard with the morning, but he didn’t bother to do anything about it, and it was already starting to flag by the time he filled up a little tin cup with lukewarm water from the jug beside the basin. He’d hoped that a drink might help with his headache, but no luck there. He thought they might have some herbs for that in one of their bags somewhere, but he’d have to check. 

“Hey.” 

Cal looked over his shoulder. “Morning.” Wes was watching him, smiling a little. Mick was stirring too. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“It’s alright, it’s morning.” Wes stretched without sitting up, a motion that seemed to involve every muscle he had. 

Cal poured two more cups of water and brought them over, handing one to Wes and putting the other on the table for Mick when he eventually woke up properly. Wes sat, still holding Mick’s hand, and Cal took that as an invitation to sit in his lap, even though it was too hot. 

“How’d you sleep?” Cal asked, while Wes drained his water in one go, putting the cup down to wrap his arm warmly around Cal. 

“As well as can be expected when we’re living in hell’s kettle.” Wes sighed, leaning down and kissing Cal. “You?”

“Fine.” Cal nestled a little against Wes. “I had a weird dream.” 

“Bad?”

“No, just weird. It was dark and there was something talking, I don’t really remember.” Cal frowned. He had a feeling that he’d known who it was that was speaking, but now he had no idea. “I have a bit of a headache.”

“I think we have some willow bark powder in one of the bags.”

“Yeah, I’ll take it if it doesn’t go away,” Cal promised. 

“It’s probably just the heat,” Mick muttered, eyes still closed. “But I can check it out if you’re worried.”

“I’m sure it’s just the heat.” Cal agreed. He didn’t want to turn every little thing that happened into some big deal. “Morning.”

“Good morning.” Mick sat up, rubbing at his eyes and yawning. Wes reached out and got the third cup to put in Mick’s hands, and he drank the whole thing in a gulp without looking. 

“Morning,” Wes said, and he leaned in and gave Mick a kiss too. 

Mick made a bit of a noise kissing Wes back, and when Wes was done, Cal got up and gave one to Mick as well. Only then did Mick open his eyes. “Good sleep?” Cal asked him.

“Well, I had a little furnace on my chest all night, but otherwise it was fine.”

“Aren’t you glad that I convinced you to stop wearing so much to bed?”

“Yeah,” Mick admitted, eyes raking over Cal and Wes. “Too bad we still have to get dressed now.”

“No, we don’t,” Cal protested, stretching out his feet and trapping Mick in his legs so he couldn’t leave. “Let’s just stay here, like this, all day.”

“I have to pee, though,” Wes said into Cal’s hair.

“And there’s no food in here. We’ll have to go down and get some.”

“Dammit,” Cal grunted. “It’s too hot for all that.”

“You could stop sitting on us,” Wes suggested.

“I think that this is a serious problem.” Cal slumped a little. “That requires serious solutions, not jokes, Wes.” But he got off, and flopped down on the bed between the two of them, wincing a little at the spike in his head. He was going to need to take something. “When we have a house, we’re going to have summer days where we just don’t put clothes on, and we’re only going to get out of bed for the privy and food. And we’ll just cuddle all day.”

“As nice as that sounds,” Mick said, pulling Cal’s head into his lap, “you’d be the first to get bored.”

“I’m never bored when I’m with you guys.” 

“We should get up.” Wes scooted over so he and Mick were shoulder to shoulder, and put a hand comfortably on Cal’s belly. Mick rested his head on Wes’s shoulder. 

“Yeah,” Mick murmured, closing his eyes again. “We came all the way to Pelican Bay for that festival. We should at least go to it.” 

“I guess.” Cal sighed. “Okay. We should get dressed and get food, then. Full day of vacationing ahead of us.”

“Yeah.”

“Sure.”

None of them moved. 

“We don’t really have to do it right this minute, though,” Cal added.

“No.”

“We won’t miss anything if we wait a bit,” Wes agreed. 

“Guys?” Cal asked, after a minute.

“What?” Mick was running his fingers through Cal’s hair now.

“Good morning.” He thought it would have been a bit too cheesy to say ‘I love you.’

Wes snorted. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, guys.”

Cal couldn’t think of a better way to spend one.


	22. Who Are you Going to Tell Your Secret Desires to if Not Your Lovers?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is fast becoming a place where I attempt to write kinks I know very little about at fairly substantial length. 
> 
> Anyway here's 4000 words of daddy kink.

“I’ll be up in just a minute.” Wes told them as they finally got back to the inn, gesturing towards the back where privy was.

“Sure.” Cal reached out to take the bags Wes was holding, with all their purchases from the festival. Wes just kind of smirked at him and handed the bags to Mick. “Well, screw you.”

“If you want, when I get up.”

Cal chuckled, and Wes turned away from them. It was late but the common room was pretty busy, probably more so than usual. Cal was sure the three of them weren’t the only people in town for the summer festival. 

It was fun, parades and dancing and markets and all that. There was a cool-looking sea monster museum here in Pelican Bay, which they hadn’t had time to go to. Maybe tomorrow. But it was going to be nice to go back inside to the room and rest for a while. Festivals were, as it turned out, tiring. 

Upstairs, Cal unlocked their door and let them in, and Mick dropped the bags on one of the chairs while Cal pried his boots off on the floor. “Hey,” he said, looking up at Mick. 

“Yeah?” 

“I have an idea.”

“Oh, that never leads to anything good.”

“We’ve established that I have good ideas.” Now Mick just sort of looked at him. “Okay, whatever. But this one’s good.”

“Let’s hear it, then.” Mick crossed the room and opened the window. There was a really nice sea breeze up this evening that was taking some of the oppressive heat off. 

“I think we should team up on Wes the way you and him always do on me.” 

That got Mick’s attention, and he turned, looking thoughtful. “He already kind of suggested sex. There’s not much point in sneaking up on him.”

“No, I think there is. There’s something I’ve noticed and I was wondering if you have too?”

“What is it?”

Cal told him, in as much detail as he could, given that he knew Wes was going to be back soon. Mick nodded along. “Yeah, when you put it that way it does seem likely. But what if you’re wrong?”

Cal wasn’t, but he shrugged. “Then I’ll be embarrassed and it will kill the mood a little. But you must have worried that you and Wes were wrong when you first decided to blow me in the tent last year, right? That didn’t stop you from trying.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Mick thought about it a moment longer. “Alright, let’s give it a shot. Of course, now I’ll be looking over at my shoulder every time I leave the two of you alone.”

“You should, you’re next.” Cal flashed a grin at Mick, sitting on the bed and gesturing for Mick to join him. 

That was how Wes found them a few minutes later, in one another’s arms and kissing heavily. “Well, this is a nice sight,” he said, closing the door behind him and smiling at them. “My two favourite guys, doing one of my favourite things.” There it was again, that tone that Cal had noticed. 

“Come here, you,” Cal said, getting up to pull Wes over to them, not giving him time to get his boots off. He urged Wes to sit down, and then sat right in his lap. “Let’s talk.”

“About what?” Wes asked with a smile, putting his arms around Cal. 

“About you. Is there a sex thing you want to do?” 

Wes just looked at him, and Cal could feel Mick shaking his head behind him. “What?”

“I’m serious.” Cal was. “You never specifically say you want to do anything special or different. There must be stuff that you want to try.” 

Wes laughed a little, and it was obvious to Cal that he was nervous. “Not really. I just like being with you guys. I don’t care what we do.”

Cal narrowed his eyes, wriggling around until he was facing Wes, legs wrapped around Wes’s waist. “I don’t think that’s true. Come on, you don’t have to be embarrassed. It’s just us.”

Wes had coloured rather impressively seeing as they hadn’t even talked specifics yet. “I’m not embarrassed. I’ve just never really thought about it much.”

Cal sighed, leaned up and kissed Wes on the cheek. “You shouldn’t lie, daddy,” he whispered.

And was rewarded with Wes going completely stiff underneath him. Cal smiled. “I…I don’t…”

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Cal repeated, as Mick made his way over to hug Wes from the other side. “Remember that I got off on you guys feeding me a while back.” He had a feeling he knew what Mick liked too, but he’d save that for later. 

“It’s not really the same thing.”

“Do you hear us complaining?” Mick asked, kissing Wes’s other cheek. 

“I was…just worried you’d think it was weird,” Wes whispered. 

“We don’t,” Cal promised. “Come on, we love you, Wes. We’re up for a little role playing if that’s what you want.” 

Wes still looked nervous, but he relaxed a little, at least. “Okay. It’s not as fun to be on the receiving end of this.”

“It gets better,” Cal promised, shifting a little. “What should we do, daddy?”

Wes gripped Cal a little tighter for a second. “You stay right where you are, turn around.” While Cal did as he was told, Wes turned to Mick. “You okay?” He asked. Mick nodded, a small smile forming on his lips. “Good. Why don’t you take off your clothes for us?”

“Okay.” Mick got off the bed, started to undress.

“Slowly,” Wes told him, arm around Cal’s middle, fiddling with the tie on his pants. Cal moved his hands down to help and they were pushed away. 

Mick blinked, but did as he was told, carefully taking off each piece of clothing, smiling with a nervousness that Cal knew wasn’t real. His shirt came off first, followed by his pants, and Mick slowly inched his shorts down his legs, bending over as he did. He never broke eye contact with Wes.

“Isn’t he pretty?” Wes asked in Cal’s ear, fingers dipping into Cal’s pants but not much else.

Cal nodded. He really was. He was completely naked now, standing there, hard. 

“Why don’t you go give him a kiss?”

“Yes, daddy,” Cal said, resisting the urge to make his voice comically young. That would kill the mood a bit. He slid down from Wes’s lap and took Mick by the shoulders, getting up on his toes to kiss Mick on the mouth. “You’re pretty,” he said to Mick, who looked away.

“I think Michele might like it if you kiss him somewhere else too, Calvin.”

The use of his full name made Cal weak in the knees, and the look on Mick’s face told him he wasn’t the only one. Cal dropped to the floor, looking up at Mick once before taking him into his mouth. It wasn’t a kiss, but Cal could read between the lines. 

Mick stood there valiantly while Cal did his best to suck the strength right of him, and after several minutes he made a strained noise and doubled over, shooting into Cal’s mouth. Cal took the first spurt but pulled back and tried to get out of the way. One spurt hit him on the cheek and the rest went over his shoulder and down his back. Not quite what he’d had in mind, but okay. 

Panting, Cal looked over his shoulder at Wes. “Did I do it right, daddy?”

“Yeah.” Wes looked as winded as if he was the one who’d been blown just now. “You did, Calvin. Good job. Michele, why don’t you help Calvin out of his clothes?” 

Mick nodded, and, giving Cal a quick kiss, lifted Cal’s shirt over his head, slowly, and then undid his shorts and pushed them down for Cal to step out of. He turned Cal around so they were both facing Wes and undid Cal’s loincloth, letting it fall to the ground for Wes to see. 

“You’re pretty as well, Calvin,” Wes rumbled. “Both my boys are so pretty.” Cal fidgeted a little at that. “You’ve been very helpful tonight, Calvin. Why don’t you come sit on my lap while Michele returns the favour you just did him?”

“Okay.” Cal trotted back over and slid back onto Wes’s lap, which he admitted was a kind of nice place to sit. Wes’s arm went back around him, and Mick followed him over, getting down onto his knees and in between Cal’s legs.

“He got you to do that because you’re too short for me to do you standing up,” Mick muttered.

“Hey.” That was uncalled for. 

“Don’t be mean, Michele,” Wes warned.

“Sorry, daddy.” Mick smiled coyly before going down on Cal, working slowly but quickly getting him to the point of squirming in Wes’s lap, which Cal would later deny playing up for Wes’s benefit. Mick’s mouth was warm and wet, which were both obvious things that a mouth was supposed to be, but that didn’t stop them from being a bit overwhelming, especially with the constant reminder of Wes’s arm around him, with Wes’s breath on his neck, and after a pretty short time Cal cried out to warn Mick, who pulled off just in time to let Cal shoot all over his chest and Wes’s arm. 

“Did you like that, Calvin?” Wes asked in his ear. Cal nodded, trying to catch his breath. “Good. It’s really good to see my boys getting along as well as you two do. I can tell you love each other.”

“We love you too, daddy,” Mick said from down there between their legs. 

“I know you do.” Wes smiled at Mick. “I’m a little jealous of how much cooler you two are. Let’s help daddy out of his boots, hm?”

Cal nodded and slid down, glancing at Mick to make sure he was good before settling down to unlace Wes’s right boot while Mick did the left. Wes just watched them do it. Cal got Wes’s boot off and tossed it aside, looking up at Wes expectantly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mick kiss the top of Wes’s foot. Cal settled for nuzzling his leg a little.

Wes chuckled, taking off his shirt. “Look how affectionate you both are. I think you deserve a nice reward for being so good.” He stood, and Cal and Mick looked up at him as he loosened his shorts and let them fall, and pushed his undershorts down as well. They helped him out of them until Wes was standing there naked in front of them, holding onto his erection while they both stared up greedily.

Well, Cal was staring greedily, anyway. If Mick wasn’t, he was crazy. 

“Do you want this?” Wes asked them.

“Yes, daddy,” Cal said immediately, echoed by Mick.

“Alright, but there’s only one.” He sat back down on the bed. “So you have to share nicely. If you can’t, I won’t let you have it. Got it?”

Cal looked at Mick, who nodded, and the two of them crowded in to get at Wes, Mick taking advantage of his height to get to the tip, which he wrapped his lips around. Cal didn’t mind as that gave him access to the larger part of the shaft and to Wes’s balls, which he played with while he licked Wes up and down. 

Wes struggled more and more to maintain his breathing, a hand on either of their shoulders. Cal was content just to make him feel that way, but since Wes had told them to share…

He pulled back a little, tapped Mick on the shoulder. “I want a turn too,” he said quietly. 

Mick nodded and, a moment later, pulled off with a pop and moved down Wes’s length with his tongue, letting Cal take his place around the head, which he took into his mouth hungrily, enjoying the way Wes shuddered as he did. For a minute or so Cal sucked on Wes, until he judged his turn was up and got off. He and Mick worked together to lick up and down Wes’s erection, alternately sucking on his head, until Wes made a long noise. “Boys, boys,” was all he said, and Cal looked at Mick and they both got up there and kissed Wes on either side as he shot off his first spurt, and his second, and until he’d finished on his fourth, all of it landing in Cal’s hair, Mick’s hair and Wes’s chest in some combination. 

“Good teamwork, boys,” Wes panted, leaning back a little.

“Thank you, daddy,” Mick said, getting up and sitting on Wes’s lap. It looked silly with how big he was, but Wes just smiled and put an arm around him, and beckoned Cal to come up as well. 

Once they were both seated, Wes sighed. “You’re the best boys, you know?”

“You’re the best daddy,” Cal told him back. 

“You’re still hard, daddy,” Mick said, glancing at Cal. 

“I’m not the only one.” They all were. “Are you guys up to have some more fun?” That carried a note of uncertainty that Wes hadn’t shown since they’d started this. 

So Cal smiled brightly. “I am.” 

“Me too.”

“Alright.” Wes smiled back at them. “How about this? You show Calvin how good you are at using your fingers, Michele. I’ll go get the oil and we’ll see what happens after that.” 

Mick nodded, and they both got off of Wes while he stood. Cal lay back on the bed and Mick sat between his legs, leaning in and offering two fingers for Cal’s mouth. 

Cal took them, licked them to get them wet, sucked on them a bit. They were nice fingers. Wes had gone over to get the oil out of one of the bags. “Bet you money it’s not just fingers you get inside you tonight,” he said quietly. It was teasing, but also feeling Cal out. 

Cal let Mick remove his fingers, smiling nervously. “I’m not the only one. We’ll see how it goes.” 

He wasn’t against the idea, as an idea. He was only against the idea inasmuch as Mick and Wes were so goddamn big and he was so goddamn not. But he knew that it could be safe as long as they were careful. He was willing to try. 

He was also willing to say no if trying didn’t work out. 

Mick was slow, very slow in working his finger inside Cal, starting with his longest one. He kept his other hand on Cal’s thigh, watching Cal’s face as he worked it inside. 

By the time he got it all the way in, Wes had come back and was sitting behind Mick. “Be careful, baby,” he said, patting Mick’s back. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“I’m being careful, daddy,” Mick assured him as he worked a finger around inside Cal, clearly enjoying watching Cal try not to squirm. A moment later, though, Mick’s breath hitched as Wes started doing the same to him, and Cal giggled a little. 

Mick retaliated by squeezing a second finger into Cal, which Cal tolerated with a shudder. He didn’t much like the sting that came with this, but Mick was slow and careful and it faded after a moment. They’d done this before, this part anyway. 

Mick and Wes had been trying to stick things in him for a while now. 

The addition of Mick’s third finger got a noise out of Cal, one of those pathetic ones that he wished he could stop making during sex. But it was, apparently, not to be. Cal felt himself getting short of breath and made an effort to take deeper breaths. He was covered in sweat and was no longer feeling the nice breeze. 

“You okay, buddy?” Wes asked from behind Mick. Cal opened his eyes to see Mick squirming as well as Wes fingered him. 

“I’m okay,” he reported. Beyond the sting, it didn’t feel bad. It was nice, in its way. 

“You ready for something bigger?” 

Cal let the question hang there for a second, not sure. He felt full, with Mick’s fingers inside him like that, and wasn’t sure he could take more of it. But…it was good, it felt nice. He wanted…he wanted to try, at least. “I’m ready,” he said, a little breathless. 

“Alright, hold tight for just a second.” Cal nodded and didn’t move. Wes gently reached around and pulled Mick’s fingers out of Cal, and Cal just flat-out pretended that someone else had made that noise. He lay there and watched as Wes turned Mick around. “Can you sit in my lap, baby?” 

Mick nodded and started do just that, and it took Cal’s foggy brain a second longer than it ought to have to realize that ‘sit in my lap’ definitely meant ‘sit on my cock,’ because that’s what Mick did, slowly sliding down, eyes closed, Wes’s hands on his sides to steady him, and even though Cal was a little confused about what was happening, it was really something to watch. He could probably have just watched it all night and been totally satisfied come sunrise.

“You okay?” Wes asked Mick as Mick saddled himself. 

Mick nodded again, mouth open a little. Cal could see him shuddering. 

“Alright.” Wes was panting too and clearly holding himself back from doing anything. He beckoned Cal over. 

Cal got up with a little groan, came over on his hands and knees to join them. “I want you to sit in Michele’s lap, just like he’s doing for me. Can you do that, buddy?”

Cal looked down at them, and nodded. “Yes, daddy.” Part of him wasn’t pretending anymore. 

With Wes’s help, Cal positioned himself over Mick, awkwardly straddling both of them. Wes’s fingers came up and inside him, pulling apart a little to stretch him further as Wes manhandled Cal into position. 

And then it was there, Mick, right at his entrance. Cal had his back to him, facing Wes, and Mick’s panted breath was hot on his shoulder. Cal closed his eyes and tried to stay relaxed, and then he was sliding down, Wes’s fingers leaving him, the head of Mick’s cock replacing them, and he was sliding down, and it was going further in, and it was stretching, and then it stung, and then it _hurt_. “Stop,” Cal breathed, hands on Wes’s shoulders. 

“Are you okay?” Wes asked, holding Cal up by his armpits. He sounded worried.

Cal nodded. His thighs were burning from holding himself up like this. It felt like all of Mick must be inside him, but Cal didn’t want to look down to see how much more there was. “Just…give me a second.”

“Take as long as you need, buddy,” Wes rumbled, quietly. “Just tell me if you can’t do it.”

“I can do it.” Cal promised. “I just need a minute.”

Poor Mick, who must have been absolutely dying, wrapped his arms around Cal in a warm hug, just breathing behind him. “It’s okay if you can’t do it.” He whispered in Cal’s ear. He was so nice. Cal should do something nice for him. 

“I know.” Cal nodded. But he could do it, he could, it was already hurting a lot less. He was so full, but he could do more. “Okay,” he said, after a long minute. 

“Okay,” Wes repeated, loosening his grip a little and letting Cal slide a little lower down. That sent a jolt through him as Mick touched the spot right inside of him, and Cal started, tensed, and rocked back involuntarily, pushing himself further down faster than he’d intended. That got a reaction from Mick, who twitched inside of him, pushing further in at the same time, and Cal had definitely been wrong before when he’d thought most of Mick was already inside him. 

Steeling himself, Cal just pushed himself the rest of the way down, crying out as Mick filled him the rest of the way. He wasn’t the only one, and Mick’s moan filled his ear. 

“See, I knew you’d fit together,” Wes murmured, running his hand up and down Cal’s sides for a moment. “My boys, my perfect boys. How does it feel?”

“It’s good, daddy,” Mick panted.

Cal nodded. “It’s really big,” he managed. 

“Yeah. You’re going to like this part, though,” Wes promised. And he wrapped his arms around both of them, drawing them in close. Mick was leaning back a bit to accommodate Cal in between them, but now Wes must have been holding up all of their weight. Cal put his arms around Wes and Mick did the same, resting his hands on top of Cal’s behind Wes’s back. 

As soon as Wes started moving, started all three of them moving, it was clear it wasn’t going to last long. They were all wound up, too much for it to go on for more than a minute or two. Cal was pressed up against Wes’s chest, his erection rubbing against Wes’s stomach as Mick rocked back and forth in and out of him, hitting that spot again and again, and Cal found himself wishing somehow that he could be wrong and it could last longer than a minute, even as he thought vaguely that he didn’t have the energy for this to go on long. 

Reasonably enough, Mick came first, tensing around Cal with a whimper of “Daddy” as he shot inside of Cal. Cal was sandwiched in between them, and it was so hot and sweaty, and both of their arms were around him, and it was just…

Cal came too, not bothering to stifle himself as he did. “Daddy…”

Wes tensed under him, and with a low moan that sounded more like a growl, came inside Mick as well.

They held like that for a minute, panting together. Wes’s grip on them loosened and after a moment the whole thing sort of collapsed and though Cal’s body protested at the sudden loss as Mick slid out of him, his entire insides felt a lot less tight, so there was that. They all lay on the bed, entangled in one another, breathing. 

“Thank you,” Wes said, after who knew how long.

“Told you that you didn’t need to be embarrassed.” Cal smiled to himself. He was going to be really, ridiculously sore tomorrow. They definitely weren’t going to make it to that sea monster museum. He’d be surprised if they made it downstairs. 

“How did you know?”

“We love you, dumbass,” Mick told him. “We pay attention to you.” 

Wes laughed a little at that. “Thanks,” he said again. “Was it okay? For you?”

“Of course it was.”

“Yeah.” Cal shook his head. “It was awesome, Wes, don’t worry about it—or anything else you want to try.”

“Well,” Wes paused. “I do have a bit of a list.” 

“Of course you do.” Cal was not surprised. 

He had a bit of a list too. 

“We have to go down and get in the bath,” Wes said, another long pause later. “Get cleaned up or we’ll regret it in the morning.”

“Yeah.” Mick sighed, sat up with obvious effort. Cal really, really didn’t want to do that, but Wes was right, so he sat up as well, aware of the cum leaking out of him and onto the bed. 

“I love you guys,” Wes said as they stood and cast around for clothes to go out of the room in. 

“We love you too, Wes,” Cal told him.

“Yeah—you’re going to help us both wash, right?”

“Obviously.” 

Slowly, tiredly, they went down to the bath. No matter how sore Cal was, he was happy. Wes had enjoyed himself—and they had too. It had been a good night.


	23. Festivals Are Great Places to Meet New and Interesting People

Cal actually had no idea what this festival was supposed to be celebrating. It wasn’t something that was done outside of Pelican Bay, but it was a longstanding tradition here. Nobody he’d asked seemed to know either. It just seemed like the whole city had seen an excuse to have two weeks of parties in the summer and just ran with it. 

That was fine with him, it was fun. The three of them had had a lot of fun here, and Cal was a little conflicted. Part of him was disappointed that tonight was the last night of the festival and they’d have to go back to work tomorrow, but the other part of him was exhausted from all this vacationing and was ready to go back to work. 

They were in Swordfish Alley, which despite its name was one of Pelican Bay’s main thoroughfares, leading directly from the bay, through the merchants’ district and to the ritzy parts of town in the east. Right now it was full of dancing people and coloured glass lanterns, which were just now being lit despite the sun still having an hour left in it.

There were also ribbons everywhere, on buildings and on the ground and on the little food stalls that were set up everywhere, and on people. Everyone had at least one or two ribbons on them. Some people had a lot. Some people had nothing but ribbons on. Cal had bought some for all three of them and had made a joke about wearing just one strategically placed, but that had gotten him very thoughtful looks rather than laughter as he’d thought. 

So now he was wearing his strategically placed ribbon, but under some actual clothes. It was a compromise that Cal was pretty okay with. 

Masks were also part of the festival, which Cal had thought was pretty fun at first, but which at turns had made him feel funny, since he didn’t ever recognize anyone. His own mask was just a simple black band, which Wes had insisted looked dashing on him. 

“Where’s all this music coming from, anyway?” Mick asked all of the sudden, as they wandered through the festival. There was a lot of music playing, but now that Mick mentioned it, Cal hadn’t seen any musicians. 

“Maybe the festive spirit creates it out of the air,” Cal suggested, looking around. “Or it’s the breath of angels or something.”

“The musicians are hiding behind the light displays on the rooftops so you can’t see them.” Wes said, pointing out one such display of pink and orange lights. Sure enough, at a squint, Cal could see shapes moving back there. 

“Way to kill the magic of it all, Wes,” Mick said, nudging him in the side. 

“Yeah, I know.” Wes grinned under his mask, in the shape of a bulldog. “That’s usually your job.”

Mick, in a winged blue mask that put Cal in mind of a bird, didn’t deny it. “I wonder how much they’re getting paid.”

“Only you come to a festival and wonder how much the musicians get paid.” 

“I think it’s a legitimate question.” Cal shrugged. “I mean—who the hell pays for all of this anyway?” The long blue ribbon that they’d tied around his neck flapped in the light breeze. “It doesn’t feel organized enough to be the local magistrate.” 

Wes just laughed. “Yeah. I’m ready to go back to work too, guys.”

Mick nodded. “Vacationing is a lot of work. I’m glad we did it.”

“Me too,” Cal agreed. “But going back to actual work will be nice. We can start looking for leads on the Regalia tomorrow. We’ll start by going uptown and…” Cal felt the fingers in his pocket and snapped out his arm, wrapping fingers around a skinny wrist. “Hello there.” 

“Shit.” The owner of the hand yanked it back. Cal tightened his grip but was surprised at the strength in the kid’s arm, and he pickpocket broke free. Unfortunately for him, Cal had kept him still long enough for Wes to get behind the poor kid, and that was the end of that. “Let me go!” The pickpocket shouted, from behind white face mask that could be bought all over the city, and which therefore looked like thousands of others. Most people painted theirs, though, so it being white was just as distinctive as if it had been colourful. Wes held both of his hands tight, so he wasn’t going anywhere. 

Cal considered the struggling thief for just a second. He was a pretty skinny kid, a little younger than Cal. Reddish-brown hair showed atop his head and he didn’t have any shoes on. “You’re not wearing a ribbon,” Cal said, since it struck him as odd.

“What? What do you care? Let me the fuck go!”

“You should wear one, and paint your mask a little, too,” Cal went on, thinking. “And stop targeting people in groups—you want one person by him or herself, preferably someone a little drunk, which a lot of people are. Head down the street a little closer to the bay where it’s more crowded and if you do get caught, don’t let go of the purse—you might still be able to get away with it.”

“Cal, stop giving advice to the pickpocket.” Mick sighed. 

“He sucks at it.” Cal shook his head. “It’s insulting. I want him to stop sucking at it.” 

“Fuck you.”

“You know, the speech you’re supposed to give is the one about how stealing is wrong,” Wes reminded Cal. 

“He already knows that. He’s not stupid, he’s just bad at stealing.”

“Hey! I’m right the fuck here!” 

“Yeah, I know.” Cal smiled at him. “Let him go, Wes.”

“You sure?” The poor kid was still struggling gamely even though it was clear he wasn’t going anywhere until Wes let go of his hands. There were a few people looking at them, wondering what the commotion was. 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Wes let him go. The kid made to bolt. “Are you hungry?” Cal asked him. 

Mick sighed. 

The would-be thief stopped. His stomach made a noise. “No. Fuck off.”

“Okay, well I’m going to go over here and buy some fish,” Cal said, pointing to a nearby man who was grilling bits of swordfish on sticks and selling them to passers-by. “And I’m going to share it with everyone who happens to be with me at the time. So you have a good night, and enjoy the rest of the festival.”

“Cal,” Mick said to him quietly as Cal headed towards the fish vendor.

“Mick.”

“Please don’t adopt the random pickpocket.”

“I’m just going to feed him and help him get better at his job, that’s all.” 

“You know what they say,” Wes added. “If you feed them once, they never stop coming back.”

“I think that’s raccoons. Or ducks.” Cal said. “It’s fine.” 

He got to the guy selling the fish and put down a bunch of his not-stolen coins, not at all surprised to find a masked thief standing behind him sullenly when he turned around, handing several of the skewers to Mick and Wes. He handed several to the kid as well. “What’s your name?”

“None of your business.” 

Cal shrugged, ate some fish. “I’m Cal.”

The kid looked down at his fish, seemed to realize that his mask covered his whole face and made an agitated noise before lifting it back. A square face with a splatter of freckles across the nose greeted them. He glared at Cal and ate some fish. “You haven’t been doing this long,” Cal told him. “The stealing thing.”

“Never needed to before.” 

“But you need to now?”

“None of your damn business.”

“See, and here I thought we were friends—you stuck your hand in my pocket and everything.”

“Shut up,” the kid muttered as Wes snorted. 

“You from Pelican Bay?” The kid’s accent placed him here. Cal was warming him up to get to the point. He had an idea.

“Why do you care?”

“I need someone to show me around.”

“Cal…” 

“I do, Mick.” Cal smiled at him. “We’ve never done a lot of business here. I need someone to show me where all the interesting places to hear interesting rumours are. We’re looking for something.”

“What is it?”

“It’s called the Sea King’s Regalia.” 

The kid frowned. “Never heard of it.”

“Do you know anyone who might have? Or at least a place where I could ask around?”

The kid just scowled at him. 

“I’ll pay you.”

“I might know a few places you could try. No promises. No promises you won’t get stabbed, either.”

Cal shrugged. “Being stabbed isn’t as big a deal as people make it out to be. Do you have a name, or should I just call you ‘kid?’” 

“I’m not a kid.”

“‘Not a Kid’ is a strange name.”

“Fuck you.”

“You’re a little young for me.”

Flushed, the kid looked away. “That’s not what I meant.”

“He knows what you meant,” Wes told him. 

“Sully,” the kid said, to the street. 

“Alright, Sully.” Cal smiled. “You’re hired. I’ll meet you here tomorrow at sunset. In the meantime,” He untied the ribbon from his neck and handed it Sully. “Try to blend in, will you?”

Sully considered the ribbon for a long time, but he did take it, knotting it around his waist before warily making his way off, down towards the bay. Cal watched him until he was gone. 

When he turned back, Wes and Mick were both looking at him. “What?”

“We’re hiring random street urchins now?” Wes asked. 

“Whatever, I felt bad for him.” Cal shrugged. He did need someone to do what he’d hired Sully to do. Cal didn’t really know anyone in Pelican Bay. “It’s fine. I know what I’m doing.”

“So you always say.”

“I’m usually right, aren’t I?”

They shared a look. Even concealed by masks, Cal didn’t like that look. “I am,” he insisted. “Look, I know he’s just a random kid, but I didn’t get any bad vibes from him. He’s not dangerous, he’s just a little desperate. The worst that happens is I’ll end up giving him some money for no reason but to feed him for a few days.”

“It’s just weird,” Mick said. 

“Not really. I do stuff like this a lot, you guys just don’t usually see it.” Cal smiled to calm them both down. “Trust me, okay? This is why you keep me around.”

Another look, then Mick sighed. “Okay, fine. That’s enough work for tonight, though. Let’s go and have some fun.”

“Yeah, I hear they have dramas down closer to the bay.” Cal looked down at himself. “I need a new ribbon.”

“Well…” Wes clapped him on the shoulder. “You do have another one on.”

“Pants do seem to be optional at this festival.” Mick sounded thoughtful too.

“Oh, no.” Cal stepped away from the two of them, holding up a hand. “I’m not drunk enough for that.” He was very aware of the strategically placed ribbon now. 

“Yet.”

Cal grinned. It was the way they read his mind that made him love them. “Which one of you is buying?”


	24. All Important Things Carry An Element of Risk

The bar was a step above a dive, but not a big enough step that Cal would be willing to bet money on not getting stabbed. “Just my kind of place,” he said, looking around. 

“You’re fucking weird,” Sully told him, partly hiding behind him. “That’s him, there at the back.” 

The man named Blind Arvin was not blind, or at least he didn’t look it to Cal. He sat at a table for two by himself, nursing a tankard, not paying attention to anything in the room but his drink. Middle aged and showing it, he didn’t look like much. 

But then, neither did Cal. 

“And he knows everything?”

“That’s what they say.”

“Perfect.” Cal nodded to himself, and took a step in that direction. 

“Wait, what are you doing?” Sully demanded, taking Cal’s arm to stop him. 

“What, I’m going to go talk to him.” That was why Sully had taken Cal here. 

“You can’t just…talk to him!”

Cal turned around. “Why not?”

“I…because? He might kill you or something.”

Arvin didn’t look like the killing people type to Cal. He shrugged. “Yeah, but he might not. You can stay here if you want.” Freeing his hand, Cal turned and walked back to the table.

“I thought you just wanted to scope him out or something!”

“Nah, I’m here now, may as well get it out of the way.” 

“Dammit!”

Cal left Sully by the door, taking the chair opposite Blind Arvin, who didn’t look up. “They say you know everything that passes through Pelican Bay.”

“They do say that.” Blind Arvin had a quiet voice and up close, it seemed that his eyes didn’t match. 

Cal pulled a coin out of his pocket, played with it over his fingers. “Do you know about the treasure of a Lord Ferrise, passed through town a few years ago?”

Now Blind Arvin looked up at Cal for the first time. “I might.” 

“It was a yes or no question.” 

Arvin’s eyes flicked to Sully for just a moment, then back to Cal. “I know that your friend there owes me three silvers.”

“Only three?” Cal glanced back at Sully, who was trying to be invisible. “They way he was freaking out about me coming to talk to you, I’d figured it must be more.”

Sully seemed to owe money to a lot of people. He’d had Cal avoid several places for that reason, though he never came right out and say that was why. 

“Some people get very possessive about what’s theirs.” 

Cal smiled, pulled out his purse, fished out four silver coins. He put them on the table between them. “There. With interest.” He made sure it was obvious how many more coins he had in there while he moved.

“You his banker?”

“I’m his employer, and rather than talking about him, I’d like to talk about what I came here for.”

“Ferrise’s plunder.” Blind Arvin scooped up the coins, made them disappear. “What wasn’t taken by the dragon was looted, made its way through our lovely port.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know.” 

“Why don’t you start by telling me what you do know?”

Cal watched him for a minute. “No,” he said, finally. “I’m not playing that game.” He stood, turned away from Blind Arvin, made for the door. “Come on, Sully. He doesn’t have what I need.”

“What?”

“I’m not wasting my time on a middle-grade information broker who wants to play at being mysterious. I’m trying to work here.” 

“Cal!”

“Most of it was fenced in the city, split into the winds.” Blind Arvin called out. Cal stopped walking, smiled where only Sully could see. “If you tell me what you’re looking for, I can tell you what happened to it.” 

Cal turned back around, approached the table again. “A king’s regalia,” he said, leaning on the table rather than sitting. “A sceptre, some rings, a bracelet, a necklace.” 

“A crown?”

“I know where the Crown is.” Or rather, Theodore said that he did, and Cal didn’t have any reason not to believe him. “Rumour was that Lord Ferrise had the Sceptre and the Brace. They’re distinctive, made out of old coral that looks like bone.”

Or bone that looked like coral, according to Theodore. 

Blind Arvin watched Cal for a long minute, thinking. “Ten silvers.”

“That’s not very much.”

“It’s plenty, because all you’re getting is a story.” 

“I like stories.” Cal wasn’t sure what to make of a broker who thought stories weren’t worth much. He pulled out the money, put it on the table. 

“When the Lord’s plunder came through the city, it was in chunks, looters going to the ashes of his manor to pick out the pieces that hadn’t been melted down. There was a coral brace that came with one of the last batches, a local merchant who’d thought to try his luck once the armed looters had passed by. Name of Patton.” 

“Where’s Patton now?”

“Dead. Came back to Pelican Bay wearing that cursed brace, wouldn’t take it off, wouldn’t sell it. Kept saying he had to throw it in the sea. But he wouldn’t, because it was worth something. His sane moments got less and less frequent. His wife tried to make him take the brace off. He beat her to death with it.” 

Charming. “And?”

“And then he walked into the bay and never came out, rambling the whole way about how he had to take it back to the ocean. The damn thing is probably still around his corpse’s wrist at the bottom of the bay somewhere.” 

Now it was Cal’s turn to fall quiet. “Not what I was expecting,” he admitted. 

“Before he went completely off it, a lot of people said they heard him saying how he needed to find the other pieces, get them all together again, return them all to the sea. And that’s it. The damn thing drove him insane. And it’s not in Pelican Bay anymore, at least not the dry part.”

Cal nodded. “The Scepter never came through here, then?”

“No, and it’s a damn good thing.”

Which meant they were going to have to hunt through dragons’ nests. Lovely. “Thank you.” He pushed back from the table, put a few more coins down as courtesy. “That’s what I needed to know.”

“Obviously not, if you’re still planning to go after the other pieces.” 

“I’ll be careful,” Cal promised, smiling at Blind Arvin. “Have a good night.” 

“Finding that thing’ll be the death of you.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time I doomed myself.” Cal waved over his shoulder, put another coin on the bar as he passed by. “A drink for my friend.” And he collected Sully and made his way outside. 

“Thanks, that was helpful,” he said, once they were out of the bar. “I think we can call it a night.”

Sully was looking at him a bit wide-eyed. “How did you do that? You got him to tell you exactly what you wanted.”

“I work with guys like him all the time. The trick is to make him think you don’t really need what he has.” Cal glanced at Sully, smiled. “Having what they want helps.” 

Sully was still looking at him kind of funny. “Thanks.” He sounded very grudging about that thanks. “For paying him the money I owed him. You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s fine.”

“I’ll pay you back. You can take it out of what you’re giving me.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Cal shook his head. “Part of doing business. It’s why I have operating funds.” 

“Still, you…”

“This was the first viable lead I’ve found since I got to Pelican Bay, Sully. It was worth it.” 

Sully made an agitated little noise, scuffing his bare foot on the cobblestones. “Okay.”

“Considering that’s the same money you tried to steal from me a few days ago, you’re awfully worried about where I spend it.” 

“I don’t like owing people things.”

“You owe money to half of Pelican Bay.”

“That’s different, okay?”

“Okay.” Cal started walking, away from the bar. Sully followed him. “What kind of information were you looking for, when you went to see him before?” Sully didn’t answer. “I’m good at finding information,” Cal reminded him. 

“I was looking for someone. Doesn’t matter.”

“Did you find him?”

“Doesn’t fucking matter.” Sully stuck his hands in his pockets, pouted a little. “No. Asshole didn’t help at all.”

“So you didn’t pay him.”

“Why should I?”

“Because giving people money is how you make them like you,” Cal suggested.

“You’re giving me money, it’s not making me like you.”

“My heart breaks. Also you’re a terrible liar.” 

“Shut up. You talk too much.”

Cal chuckled, walking as if he knew where he was going. He had a decent idea, to be fair. Pelican Bay had three major roads. 

“Why are you looking for that stuff you were asking about if it’s so dangerous?” Sully asked, as they turned on to another street. 

Cal shrugged. “Someone’s paying me to find it.”

“How much?”

“A lot more than I paid Blind Arvin to tell me where it is.” Cal smirked a little at Sully. “And a lot more than I’m paying you to tell me where he is.” 

Another indistinct noise. Sully had moved so he was walking a little closer to Cal. “How do you get a job like that?”

“Mostly luck,” Cal said, reaching out and grabbing Sully’s wrist as his arm moved a little closer to Cal’s coin purse. “And a lot of hard work. Anyone can do it, but it’s not easy to be good at it.” 

“You used to be a thief, didn’t you?” Sully accused suddenly, pulling his arm back with a consternated look on his face. 

Cal shook his head. “No, but a lot of the skills overlap. Why are you a thief?”

He assumed Sully wouldn’t answer. Sully surprised him but just looking away, annoyed. “Ran out of money.” They’d come to a nicer area with streetlamps now. 

“That sucks.”

“Whatever.”

“And interesting approach to take to poverty.”

“Why do you care?”

Cal shrugged. “I’m not allowed to care about a fellow human being?”

“No. It’s suspicious. Makes me think you want something.”

Cal laughed. “I do. That’s why I hired you, so you could do something for me.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Sully looked around. “You sure you’re done for the night?”

“Yeah.” Cal looked up. It was dark, but it hadn’t been for that long. “Mick and Wes will be pleasantly surprised that I didn’t stay out all night again.” 

That was just how it worked sometimes. 

“Okay, I’m going to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Cal didn’t really need Sully’s help anymore. They’d only stay in Pelican Bay a while longer, most likely. “Tomorrow I’ll…” He paused as Sully’s face contorted into a glare that couldn’t possibly have been meant for him. Cal looked over to his other side.

There was a man approaching them, not tall and a bit heavyset, a mop of brown hair on top of his head and a worried look in his eyes. “Who’s he?”

“Nobody.” Sully muttered, looking around now as if for an escape. But it was too late, and the man was upon them. 

“Evening, Sullivan.”

“What do you want?” Sully asked, turning his glare back on the man. “I’m working.” 

“So I see.” The man gave Cal a strange look. “I don’t mean to interfere in your life, but I’d be careful around him.”

“Why?” Cal asked, as Sully glowered. Cal moved a little so he was between this guy and Sully. 

“He’s probably lying to you, for one. And he’s definitely using you, or trying to rob you.”

“He already tried that. It didn’t work,” Cal said, and the man blinked. “He works for me now. Who are you and why does he hate you more than he hates everyone else?”

The man seemed to swallow a laugh. “My name’s Bartholomew. I’m a priest at the church around the corner. Saint Lyra’s.”

“Saint Lyra’s is on the other side of town.” Cal knew that much. It was a pretty huge cathedral and its bells could be heard through the city four times a day.

“The new one, sure. The real church, where Lyra’s buried?” Bartholomew pointed. “Over there.” 

“He’s right.” Sully grumbled, quietly. “He’s wrong about most things, but he’s right about that.” 

Cal wondered why Sully cared, but he turned back to Bartholomew. Something about the man was putting him on edge a little. Maybe it was that he was a priest. “He’s not hurting anyone. He’s been a huge help.”

“That’s unlike you, Sullivan,” Bartholomew commented, a bit of dryness in there. “What are you up to?”

“Not up to anything, Bartholomew. Just showing Cal around town.”

“Look,” Cal said, stepping fully in between them now. “Whatever’s between you two, it’s got nothing to do with me. But with that said, if you’re going to pick a fight with my employee, I’m going to have to ask you to do it when he’s not working. We’re busy.”

Bartholomew looked at him for a moment, then took a step back. “Sorry. Sullivan’s not a bad person. He’s just…made questionable decisions in the past.”

“Shut the fuck up. Like you haven’t.” 

“The past has nothing to do with what he’s doing right now,” Cal told Bartholomew. And Sully. 

“I think you know that’s not true, Cal,” Bartholomew said, looking at Cal very strangely now. In a familiar way, as if they knew each other. “The past always determines the present.”

“Only if you let it,” Cal said, resisting the urge to take a step back, as he felt a sudden chill in the wind. 

Bartholomew looked at him for a long time, and nodded. “Okay. Sorry to have bothered you. Good to see you again, Sullivan.”

“Feeling’s not mutual, you lunatic.”

Bartholomew smiled sadly, and he turned and walked off. 

“The hell was that about?” Cal wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer. 

“Ignore him. He just thinks he’s better than everyone else, that’s all.” Sully looked around again. “I’m going to go. See you tomorrow.” And he set off. 

“Sully.”

“What?”

Cal reached into his coin purse. “Where are you sleeping tonight?”

A suspicious look. “Why do you care?”

“I just do.” Cal flicked him a coin, and Sully caught it with a minor fumble. “Don’t sleep outside.” 

Sully looked down at the coin, up at Cal, expression unreadable. Cal wanted to say that he was worried about him, that he was uncomfortable all of the sudden with the idea of Sully being alone, being exposed. But he couldn’t, or Sully wouldn’t take it. He couldn’t say that he was worried for Sully’s safety, and for no good reason. A priest was hardly going to murder him in the night. 

Sully nodded, pocketed the coin. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Sully.”

Sully left, disappeared into the shadows. Cal looked around, saw nothing suspicious on the street, and made his way cautiously to his own inn. Suddenly he felt exposed too. 

When he got back to the inn, Mick and Wes were both still up. “What’s wrong?” Mick demanded, as soon as he came in. “You look upset.”

“Did something happen?”

“No, no.” Cal waved them off, sat to take off his boots. “I’m fine. I think. Just paranoid.”

The two of them shared a look. “You’re okay now.” Wes promised, drawing Cal into a hug. “You’re with us now, it’s okay.”

“You guys don’t need to entertain my neurosis, it’s fine.”

“We’re just telling you that you’re perfectly safe, that’s all,” Mick said, wiggling his fingers at the door as he put wards up. “Just in case you forgot.”

Cal smiled. Now that he was back with them, he felt that. He felt safe. He hoped Sully had gone somewhere he felt safe too. “Thanks, guys. I know I am. I love you both.” 

“We love you too, Cal.” Wes told him, patting Cal’s back. “Tell us what happened. Did Sully take you somewhere dangerous?”

“I wish you’d taken one of us with you.”

Cal shook his head. “No, it’s nothing to do with him.” Or maybe it was, what the hell did Cal know? “Just a weird encounter with a priest.”

“Another one?” Mick wasn’t asking about priests, not really. 

“I don’t know.” Cal sighed. He wished there were fewer things he didn’t know. “What I do know is that we’re going to have to go dragon-chasing, though.” 

He told them all about it, including the encounter with Bartholomew, and by the time he was done Cal felt a lot better, like there wasn’t really anything to worry about at all. 

Maybe that was even true.


	25. The Hiring Process Is always Cruel and Unusual

“Are we sure we have everything?”

“Yes, Cal.” Mick’s tone made it clear that he wasn’t impressed that they were going to have this conversation. Again.

“Food, clothes, tent, empty bags?”

“Yes, Cal.” Mick repeated.

“Rope, flint, oil…”

“Money, weapons, soap, clean smallclothes, our last will and testament in case we get eaten by dragons,” Wes cut him off as they headed for the gates of Pelican Bay. “It’s all there, Cal. We’ve done this a few times before.”

“I know, I know, sorry.” Cal sighed, looked around. He shifted his bag on his back as he walked. “I’m just a little antsy.” And he wasn’t even sure why. A combination of too many encounters with priests and the strange items they were searching for, he supposed. 

“That might be because of all the dragon home invasions you’ve got planned,” Wes suggested. 

Cal smiled. “It’ll be fine, they won’t be home and even if they are, dragons are probably harmless. They just get talked shit about because everyone is jealous of their scales.” 

“I really don’t think that’s why.” Cal couldn’t see Mick rolling his eyes, but he knew. 

“Prince Gavin got kidnapped by a dragon last year and he’s fine,” Cal went on, as the gates came into view. There was a pelican sitting on the road beside them, which Cal thought was unnecessary. “So clearly they can’t be all bad.” 

“Cal, please don’t try to make friends with any dragons.” 

“Why not?” Cal asked, with a grin. 

A shout distracted him from behind and all three of them turned. Running at them from up the road was Sully, still barefoot. “Told you,” Cal said, smiling down the road at him as he approached. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Mick crossed his arms, scowling. “I still think it’s a bad idea.”

“And I still believe in giving people chances.” 

“Chances to steal from us.”

“Why would he steal if he has gainful employment?”

“Because he’s a thief?” Mick asked. “It’s in the job description.”

“We haven’t hired him yet,” Wes reminded them both, watching Sully as he closed the last few feet. “Maybe he just came to tell us to fuck off one last time.”

“It’s possible,” Cal admitted, though it wasn’t. 

Sully reached the three of them, panting, bending over for a minute with his hands on his knees. “You could have waited for me. Assholes.”

“We did,” Mick told him, looking down at Sully in a very arch way that Cal almost had to laugh at because it was so unlike him. “What do you want?”

“Uh…” Sully seemed taken aback by Mick’s tone. “None of your business.”

“All right, then.” Mick turned away, waving for them to follow him. “Let’s go.”

“Wait!” 

Amused, Cal watched Sully scowl at them. “Don’t leave.”

“We have to go, Sully,” Cal told him. “We’re done in Pelican Bay. Thanks for all your help.”

“Well…” Sully looked around the street, not looking at any of the three of them. 

“Well what?” Cal asked. “Did you need something?”

“Yes…?”

“He needed to waste our time,” Mick said. “Probably trying to get into your purse again.”

“I’m not!”

“Then what? The bags? We don’t have anything valuable in there.” 

“That’s not what I’m here for, asshole!”

“You still haven’t told us what you actually are here for, Sully.” Since Mick was going for mean, Cal tried to sound friendly. 

“Aside from to insult us, that is,” Wes added, in a chuckle. 

“I…” Sully’s face was a mask of red. “I want to come with you.”

Mick shook his head. “We’re not an escort service. And you don’t have enough money to hire us anyway.” 

“That’s not what I meant.” Sully took a breath, glaring at Mick. “I want to help you. To find the thing.” 

“We don’t need any more help,” Cal told him kindly. “We know where it is, or close enough. And you don’t know the area outside of Pelican Bay well enough to be our guide.”

“That’s not what I…I want a fucking job, okay? I want to get on your guys’s team.” 

Smirking, Cal looked at Mick, who just rolled his eyes. Wes was shaking his head, barely holding back laughter. They were going to have to work on his delivery. “Oh, that’s what you were after. Why didn’t you just say so?”

“I was trying! You guys were being assholes!” 

“Yeah, that’s pretty normal. You’re hired. Come on.”

“What?” Sully’s voice dropped a bit in volume, and he looked at the three of them. “Just like that?”

“They were teasing you, dumbass.” Wes patted Sully on the back, which sent Sully staggering a bit. “We already agreed to hire you—last night, when Cal told us you’d come find us before we left.” 

“W-what?” Sully demanded, looking at the three of them. “You…you fucking…”

Cal reached over his shoulder, opened his bag and pulled out the pair of boots he’d stowed at the top. “Here. You can’t walk the world barefoot.” He handed them to Sully, who looked at them as if they might bite.

“What the hell was all that about?” Sully’s voice got loud again, even as he snatched the boots from Cal’s hands. “If you already knew you were going to say yes, then why all that?”

“Because you should learn to ask for what you want,” Mick told him. “Politely, if possible, though you can work on that. And because I’m not sold on this idea and I wanted to give you a hard time to make sure you meant it.” 

“Well…” Sully looked like he didn’t know what to say or do, so he sat down on the street and pulled the boots Cal had given him on. “I’m not sold on the idea either, but it’s fucking…better than what my life is now.” 

“He has a point,” Cal said, and Mick shrugged. 

“We should get going,” Wes suggested. “People are starting to wonder why we’ve been standing here so long.” 

Cal nodded, looking around to see that they were indeed getting a few looks. “Let’s go, then.”

They started towards the gates again, with Sully mutely in tow. Mick looked back at him. “You’d better not be expecting us to protect you from everyone you owe money to,” he warned.

“I’m not. I only owe money to people in Pelican Bay, and we’re leaving.” 

“Probably not forever.”

“Yeah, but you’ll have paid me before forever.” Sully suddenly narrowed his eyes. “Wait, what do you mean you decided to hire me last night? I only decided I was going to ask this morning!” 

“I know everything,” Cal said, pointing over his shoulder as they passed through the gates. The pelican squawked at them. Cal gave it a rude gesture in response. 

“He really doesn’t,” Wes said quietly to Sully, but loud enough that Cal could hear.

“Don’t lie to the new guy, Wes.” 

“The first rule of working on this team is that we don’t listen to Cal,” Mick started, with a sigh. 

“Hey!”

“Except for when he’s right.”

“How…” Sully paused. “How do I know when he’s right?”

“He usually isn’t.” 

“I feel so betrayed.”

“Quiet down, Cal, I’m trying to train your replacement.”

“You’re fired.”

“My pack has all the food in it.” 

“Well…” Cal glared. “You did that on purpose.”

Wes rubbed Cal’s head as they walked. “We were going to put it in yours, but it would have been too heavy for you to carry.” 

“I hate you, I hate both of you. Me and Sully are going dragon diving without you, get lost.”

“I feel like I made a huge fucking mistake all of the sudden,” Sully said. “You’re all insane.”

“Yeah.” Cal said, smiling at him. “Welcome to the team.”


	26. Memory Is an Uncontrollable Thing

“All I’m saying…”

“Shut up, Cal,” Mick told him. 

“All I’m saying is that I asked.”

“For fuck’s sake.”

“I asked, both of you, a bunch of times.” 

“It was an accident, you asshole.” Mick sounded resigned to hearing the rant, though, which was good, because Cal was going to give him the rant. 

“You are being kind of an asshole,” Sully added, and Cal glared at him. 

“You’re supposed to be on my side,” he told Sully. 

Sully shrugged. “What are you going to do, fire me?”

“I might,” Cal threatened.

“Nah, first of all I’d take off with a quarter of your stuff if you did,” Sully grinned at him, hefting the pack they’d given him to carry. “And second, Mick and Wes like me better than they like you.”

“It’s true,” Wes confirmed. 

“I dislike you both equally,” Mick disagreed, shaking his head. “I like Wes the best.”

“Aw.”

“But at the moment, Cal is being the most annoying, so I’m on Sully’s side here.”

“Treason, high treason everywhere.” Cal sighed to himself. “You should go back to just hating Sully for no reason.”

“That got tiring.”

“I knew you’d warm up to me eventually,” Sully muttered.

“Don’t push your luck.”

“Anyway,” Cal said, bringing them back around to the main point. “I asked you like four times if we’d packed everything. Four times and yet somehow, you forgot the fishing twine—which was in the bag already, how did you even do that?”

“Must have happened on one of the four times you made us take everything out to make sure it was there,” Wes told him in a rumble. “It’s just some twine. We can get more and you don’t even like fish.”

“That’s not the point,” Cal told him.

“There’s a point?” Sully didn’t have to sound so surprised about that. He was fitting in really well with the team and at that moment, Cal wished he wasn’t. 

“No, there isn’t,” Mick told him. “Cal’s just annoying.”

“The point is that you should listen when I talk.”

“If there was a point, it would definitely not be that.” 

“I’m always right,” Cal protested.

“People who say they’re always right usually aren’t,” Sully observed. “If they were, they wouldn’t have to remind people of it all the time.” 

While the other two snickered at him, Cal turned another glare on Sully. “Listen, you ungrateful…”

“What’s that there?” Sully asked, pointing over Cal’s shoulder.

“I’m not falling for that.”

“No, seriously.” Sully sounded really serious, and was peering around Cal to try and get a better look. 

Still not convinced that Sully wasn’t trying to make him look like an idiot, Cal just cast a quick glance in that direction.

And he saw the gravestones. 

“Huh.” There were eleven of them in two even rows, moss-covered and mostly sunken into the ground. The area they were travelling through right now was lightly wooded and they’d veered off of the path yesterday. Probably nobody had been through this particular strand of trees in a long time. 

Which Cal could easily believe, given that the gravestones looked ancient. 

“They’ve been here for a while,” Mick commented, as they approached the gravestones.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Cal knelt in front of one, rubbed some of the moss from it. The stones were uneven, not cut. 

“There’s no inscription,” Mick said, looking with Cal. “The weather saw to that, probably a long time ago.”

“There was never an inscription,” Cal muttered, running his hand along the edges of the stone. “These rocks were just what was lying around at the time.”

“How do you know that?” Sully asked, his footsteps light on the grass. 

“He didn’t know who they were, but he had to bury them.” Cal didn’t break his study of the gravestone. “That’s what you do when someone dies. It’s the right thing to do.”

“Cal.” Wes’s hand fell on Cal’s shoulder. “It was a long time ago.” There was a tone of worry in his voice, a tone of pleading maybe.

“Even when you’re the one who killed them,” Cal said, hearing Wes but also hearing screams. “Even when you’re the one who killed them, you’re supposed to bury someone who’s died.” His hands, covered in dirt and blood. Two things he’d been supposed to do.

“Cal…” Mick knelt beside him now, voice soft.

“I remember them,” Cal whispered. He could see their faces, hear them crying. Begging. Six adults, three children and three who’d been just in between. One, a girl, had managed to run away, to get away. “I remember them.”

“You didn’t kill them, Cal.” Now Mick’s tone was firm. 

“What the fuck’s going on?” Sully demanded from behind them. “Is he okay?”

Cal closed his eyes, looked away from the gravestones. “I put these here,” he said, clenching his hands into fists. “I dug the holes, and I found these stones and I stood them here, because I…because _he_ had to bury them, even though he’d killed them.” 

Nathen. That was what the old lady had called Cal. Mick was right, Cal hadn’t killed these people. But Nathen had, he was sure of it. 

“Cal, we’re going to go,” Wes told him, and he and Mick helped Cal stand.

“I’m okay,” Cal promised, letting them lead him away from the gravestones. “I’m okay, I’m here. I’m still me. I just…I remember. I remember doing it. I don’t remember why, but I remember killing them. One of them was just a baby.” He’d killed the baby last so the parents wouldn’t have to watch it happen.

“Is somebody going to tell me what the fuck’s happening?”

“Cal has…” Mick hesitated. “Memories. The working theory is that they’re left over from another life. Reincarnation. I’m not sure I buy it, but it’s the most plausible theory we have at the moment.” 

“Fuck.” Sully crossed his arms, glanced at the gravestones. “And he’s the one who killed all those people? A long-ass time ago, you mean?”

“No.” Cal shook his head. “It wasn’t me. It was him, it was…I think his name was Nathen.” It was a distressingly familiar name to him. “He did it. Not me. We’re not the same person.”

“Exactly,” Wes rumbled. “Even if the reincarnation thing is true, you’re not him, Cal.”

Cal nodded. And he turned back to the gravestones.

“That’s not a good idea, Cal.”

“It’s okay, just give me a second.” Cal took in a long breath, approached the graves and knelt again. “I’m sorry,” he said to them, to the rocks. “I’m sorry that you died, especially like that.” He’d killed the adults first, the children had had to watch. He’d decided that was a greater mercy than making parents watch their children die. “But I’m not going to apologize for killing you. Because it wasn’t me who did it. I’m sorry that you’re dead but it’s not my fault.” 

And he stood up, turned away from the stones. Wiping his eyes, Cal said. “Let’s go.”

The three of them followed him, silent until they were well away. “You okay?” Wes ventured after they were. 

Cal nodded. “They were a family. Two brothers and a sister, their wives and husband. Their kids. The youngest was just a baby.”

“Why’d he kill them?” Sully asked, quiet. 

“I don’t know.” Cal shook his head. “I don’t understand him.” 

“It’s probably better that way,” Mick said, putting his hand on the small of Cal’s back. “You’re better off not worrying about why he did what he did. You’re not like him anyway—you’re not going to randomly start killing people, Cal.”

“I know.” What worried Cal was that he didn’t think Nathen had randomly started killing people either, at least not in his own estimation. “He was a terrible person. I’m glad he’s dead.”

“So am I,” Wes told him, hand on Cal’s shoulder. “It let the world have a much better person.” 

“Thanks.” Cal hoped that was true. 

“Are you…” Sully was hesitant. “Are you okay, Cal?”

Cal nodded, putting on a smile. “I’m fine now. I’d be better if I had fishing twine.”

“Oh, shut up,” Mick huffed. “It wasn’t our fault.”

“Accidents happen,” Cal agreed, mind feeling less heavy the farther away he got from Nathen’s makeshift graveyard. He let out a long sigh. “There were twelve of them,” he said, not sure why. “One of them got away. He didn’t get all of them.”

“Good,” Wes told him. 

“Yeah, it is good,” Cal agreed, and he took comfort in it, just like he took comfort in Wes and Mick’s hands on him, and in how close they stayed to him the rest of the day.


	27. Sometimes You Keep Secrets without Meaning to

“And then Wes says, serious as you can, ‘You can never have too many pairs of boots.’”

Sully’s giggles erupted into full-out laughter at Mick’s story. Even Cal laughed, and he’d been there when it happened. “That’s…you’re making shit up. I can’t picture Wes being that ridiculous.”

“They were extenuating circumstances,” Wes said, putting on the same serious face. 

That gave Sully another fit and he nearly fell off the log he was sitting on. 

“You’ve only seen Wes when he’s pretending to be serious and grown-up,” Cal told Sully, elbowing Wes a little. “He’s a very silly person.”

“I take umbrage to that. You’re the silliest person I’ve ever met.” Wes glanced at Sully. 

“Don’t,” Cal warned. 

“It’s too late in the night to tell the whole length of this story but tomorrow I’ll tell you about the time Cal pretended to be a fish for two days.” 

Cal narrowed his eyes. He could make Wes forget that he’d promised to tell that story, he was sure.

It had been for a job.

“Wait, I want to know about this.”

“We have a hard enough time dragging you out of bed in the mornings anyway,” Cal told him, shaking his head and glancing at the sky. It had gotten late while they’d been talking “Bed.”

“Okay, _dad_.” Sully rolled his eyes like a sullen teenager, but he yawned. “Shut up,” he warned, before Cal could say anything. 

The four of them set about preparing for the night. Cal put out the fire and Wes did a perimeter check while Mick put up wards. Sully put all the dishes and tools away for the morning. 

“Hey,” Sully said, as they were finished and heading into their tents. He looked at theirs, and then at his, which was the same size. “Which one of you gave up your tent for me?”

Cal looked up from his boots as he unlaced them to see Sully considering the three of them. “What’s that?”

“Well there’s three of you in that tent and just me in this one. I don’t mind sharing. It seems kind of unfair.” 

Cal smiled, ducking his head a little as he got his boot off. Mick and Wes were clearly waiting for him to answer. “The three of us have always shared. We got that tent for you so you wouldn’t have to cram in with us.” 

“Thanks, but…” The only light in the camp now was from a globe of light Mick had summoned to hover above them, but Cal could see some colour rising in Sully’s face. “Fuck it, look. I don’t know which two of you are fucking but whatever one of you isn’t could share with me if you don’t want to put up with it. Is all I’m saying.” 

Mick had closed his eyes, covering a smile, while Wes was doing a much poorer job of pretending. “You don’t know which of us it is?” He asked Sully.

Sully scowled, as if he’d sensed a trap. “Well, it’s not like I’m fucking looking in on you guys. I can hear you at night when you go at it, though. You keep me up half the damn night.”

Now Cal laughed. Oops. “Do you have a guess?” he asked. He hadn’t realized that it had been a secret. He’d just assumed that Sully knew. 

“No. At first I thought it was you and Wes. Then I thought it was Wes and Mick, and then I thought it was you and Mick and now I’m not sure.” Sully’s scowl deepened. “I don’t give a shit. I just think that whichever one of you’s not getting it might want to not lay beside the guys who are. But whatever, don’t mind me.”

“Your guess was right,” Cal told him, smirking a little. 

“Which fucking one?” Sully rolled his eyes.

“All of them,” Mick said. 

“All…”

“We don’t generally have an odd man out to take you up on that offer. But thanks for making it anyway.” 

Now Sully was totally red in the face. “Should have fucking known…well that makes it easier. You all can just be a little quieter about your naked gymnastics, you hear? Some of us want to use dark hours to sleep.” 

“It’s mostly Cal,” Wes told him, patting Cal on the back. “We’ll try to keep him quiet.” 

While Cal glared at Wes, Sully glared at Cal. “I’m not surprised. You do that.” Then, in absence of anything else to stay, he stood there kind of awkwardly. “So. Well. Have fun. Quietly.”

“We’ll probably just sleep tonight,” Cal told him. Which was what they did most nights. Though perhaps they—and mostly he—had been a little noisy the night previous. 

“Good.” Sully looked around. “I don’t care. What you do. Not that you should care about my opinion about what you do.”

“We don’t,” Mick assured him.

“Good. Okay. I’m going to bed.” And he went into his tent, trying hard as he could to look like he wasn’t fleeing. 

Cal held in his snickers until the three of them were inside theirs and he fell onto their blankets, laughing quietly. 

“You shouldn’t tease him so much,” Mick said with a sigh, sitting down to undress. 

“But it’s hilarious.” Still holding in laughs, Cal sat up and took off his shirt, and he gave Mick a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry if I embarrassed you.” 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Just be quieter next time.”

“Stop being so good with your hands and I will,” Cal promised, getting the rest of his clothes off. They were over the border into Kyaine now, just about to enter the hilly territory that came before the Flaming Plains. Cal knew from experience that those weren’t as interesting as they sounded, but south of them rested more hills, not proper mountains, and a lot of cliffs that were home to dragons. Though summer was fading to autumn now, the journey into the hotter part of Kyaine was keeping the heat on. 

Mick gave Cal a shove with those hands, knocking him into Wes. “Maybe I’ll just gag you.”

“I’d be down for that.”

“Course you would.” 

Mick sighed as he lay back. Cal cuddled up to him while they waited for Wes. “I’m worried about him,” Mick said after a second. 

“Sully?”

Mick nodded in the dimmed light of his globe. “It’s dangerous, once we get down to where the dragon nests are. I’m not sure he’s prepared for it.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Cal started, but Wes nodded on his other side. 

“I don’t think he’s a coward, but we’ve never seen how he reacts to actual danger. There’s a risk he might bolt or do something stupid.”

“Yeah,” Cal sighed. “That’s true. I’ll take responsibility for him if there’s a fight, don’t worry.” 

He was going to have to, since if they had to fight a dragon, Mick and Wes were going to have to do the fighting.

Wes snickered now as he lay beside Cal. “He wasn’t wrong, you know.”

“About what?”

“You act like his dad.”

“Oh, stuff it.” Cal muttered, closing his eyes. “He’s a teammate. It’s normal to look out for your teammates.”

“Whatever you say, Cal.”

“I’m going to sleep now,” Cal huffed, though he wasn’t. He just wanted Wes to stop talking. 

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” 

Cal sent a mental goodnight to Sully in the other tent as well.


	28. Sometimes Plans Have to Change at the Last Minute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many complications can I add to this plot? The mystery continues.

“You’re not afraid of dragons, are you?” 

Sully looked up from his porridge, giving Cal an incredulous look. “You’re asking me this now? The dragons are like twenty minutes from here.”

“Probably still a few days,” Cal said with a wave of his hand. From the gates of this town they cold see the hills that were the southern border of the Flaming Plains, and the cliffs that housed dragons’ nests weren’t far from there. But they were hardly on the doorstep. “Slipped my mind until now.”

“No, I’m not fucking afraid of dragons,” Sully informed him. “They’re just lizards with teeth.”

“The teeth are bigger than you,” Mick muttered. 

“All the fucking easier to get away from them, then.” 

Wes nodded. “Good. If we have to fight dragons, you’re going to hide with Cal while me and Mick do the work.”

“Hey,” Cal said. He didn’t have to word Cal’s strategic use of cover like that. 

“Fucking obviously.” Sully rolled his eyes. “Do I look like I’m going to strongarm a giant monster?” He sighed, was silent for a second. “But thanks. I’ll be okay.” 

Cal nodded. “We know. You wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think you would be.” 

Sully coloured a little, went back to his porridge. 

“We’re going to spend today buying supplies,” Cal went on, though Wes and Mick already knew this. “God only knows how long we’re going to be out there, I don’t want to starve and none of us are going to want to go back if we have to break to restock. Rumour is there are dozens of dragon nests in those cliffs, current and old, and the Sceptre could be any of them, so unless we get lucky, we’re in for a few weeks of searching once we get there.”

Sully looked up. “How many dragons can we get attacked by in a few weeks?”

“Does it matter? It’d only take one to eat us all.”

“You know.” Sully pointed a spoon at Cal. “I figured out what your problem is. You think you’re funny.” He turned to Wes and Mick. “Have you guys noticed that he thinks he’s funny?”

“It’s an ongoing problem,” Wes said with a grim nod. “We’re working on it.” 

“You know.” Cal sighed dramatically, leaning back in his chair. “Fuck all of you.”

“No thanks,” Sully said, giving his head a shake. “That’s a burden I’ll let Wes and Mick bear without me.” 

“Now look who thinks he’s funny.” 

Snickers from Wes and Mick suggested they agreed with Sully’s grand delusion, which was unfortunate. Cal had hoped that adding Sully to the team might help him be less outnumbered, but it had done the opposite. Obviously he was the one who was deluded. 

Not about being funny, though. Cal was hilarious, and it was just jealousy that had the other three refusing to admit that.

The inn they were staying at was a small little place, with only about a half-dozen tables in the common room and only three rooms upstairs. Cal wasn’t surprised, the town of Heated Rock was a little off the path; they probably didn’t get any visitors and likely couldn’t accommodate them anyway, given how small they were. The only reason to come through here was if one was headed across the Flaming Plains, which just didn’t happen that often. Or at least Cal assumed it didn’t. 

The only other guests at the inn were a pair of guys sitting at the farthest table from them, who had thus far ignored Cal’s team and given Cal no reason to assume that would change. 

Cal should have known better, though. The world wasn’t that nice to him. “So…” Sully asked, looking suspicious now. “You three have a lot of experience with dragons, right?”

As he said it, the two guys got up from the other table, breaking off from their conversation, and headed over to their table. Cal glanced in their direction but returned his attention back to Sully. “Tonnes.”

“You’ve literally never seen one, have you?” Sully sighed, put his head down on the table. “You’ve let me think this whole time that you knew what you were doing.” 

“I wouldn’t say we’ve _literally_ never seen one,” Cal mused, looking at Mick for confirmation as the two strangers drew closer to their table. 

“Seen lots of pictures,” Mick agreed, fingers twitching. 

“People in costumes.”

“A statue once,” Wes added.

“And read a lot of books, so literally I’ve seen a lot.” 

“That’s _literarily,_ ” Mick corrected him.

“Same word.” Cal waved a hand vaguely.

“We’re all going to die.”

“Of course we are,” Cal assured Sully. “I hate to break this to you, but none of us is immortal.” 

“ _You_ are,” Sully accused.

“That’s different.” 

Cal looked up just in time to see the two strangers approaching their table, clearly meaning to talk to them. Or start something. Or something. One was a brown-haired, medium built guy about Cal’s age who had one of those noses that it was hard to tell if it was broken or not, and the other was wearing a heavy cloak over most of his body, including part of his face, disguising most of his build, but Cal was experienced in the ways of being fucking short and was pretty sure he had a competitor in the height department under there. “Can we help you gentlemen? Or gentle people, anyway?” It was hard to tell what was going on under that cloak. 

Not that what was going on under the cloak would answer the gentleman/lady question for Cal, but anyway.

“You guys are going to look for dragons?” The cloaked one asked in a voice that surprised Cal with its cadence Which was to say that it was a bit of a squeak. 

“We’re going to look for dragon nests. With any luck, the dragons won’t be home,” Cal told the figure with a nod, glancing at the other guy, who was just sort of standing there. Looking nervous, now that Cal took him in. 

“They will be. Why are you looking for dragons?” 

“Why the fuck do you care?” Sully demanded. “We’re having a private conversation here, God.”

“You’re very loud, you know.” 

“Sully’s question is valid,” Mick said, tapping his finger against the table. “Not to be rude, but it’s not really any of your business.” 

“Yeah,” the boy—Cal was almost certain he was a boy—in the cloak said, smiling a little. “You just all seem really friendly, and dragons are assholes. No offence, but they’ll kill you. You should go somewhere safer.”

“Nobody ever had fun going somewhere safer,” Cal told him. “And the dragons have something we need. So thanks for the advice, but we’ll be fine.”

“You won’t be, though!”

“Joey,” the other guy said, putting a hand on a cloaked shoulder. “You said your piece. Let them be.”

“No, they’re going to die.” Joey shook his friend’s hand off, fixing Cal with a glare from under his hood.

Cal met it calmly, not bothered at all. “Everyone dies, it’s hardly something to get all upset about. But for what it’s worth, none of us plan to be killed by dragons.” 

Joey made an agitated noise, shook his head, the folds of his cloak shifting. He definitely wasn’t a very big guy under there. “Fine, then we’re going with you.”

“What?”

“What?” That was Joey’s friend.

“We just got back from there,” Joey went on, ignoring his friend and looking at Cal, head held high. “We know the way around. You’re going to need help if you don’t want to get killed.”

“Joey.”

“Travis, it’s important,” Joey insisted. “We can’t let them go alone.”

“We don’t need a tour guide,” Cal told him, shaking his head and wondering again why Joey cared so much. “Thanks for the offer, but we’ve made it through plenty of dangerous situations before now.”

“But you just said you’d never met a real dragon before—you don’t understand how dangerous they are.”

Cal sighed. He hated eavesdroppers. “And you don’t understand how dangerous we are. You two obviously got out of there unscathed, there’s no reason why we won’t as well.” 

“You…”

“Look,” Cal interrupted, holding up a hand. “I can’t stop you from following us if you want to, okay? But we’re not feeding you and we’re not paying you, and if your intention is to get in our way, then that’s just a very bad idea and there’s a string of robbers and zombies and evil mages from here to the east coast that will agree with me on that. We have a job to do and we’re going to do it. So stop trying to stop us, okay?” 

There was a long silence as Joey tried to stare him down. Cal got the impression he was used to winning staring contests, but Cal just held his gaze for a good two minutes before Joey finally looked away. “Fine, but we’re going with you.” 

“Suit yourselves.” 

Cal turned away from Joey and the increasingly agitated looking Travis, who’d started to look a little angry there at the end. He looked at Wes. “When we passed through that marketplace yesterday, I saw a guy with a whetstone sharpening weapons. Let’s make sure we drop by there while we’re out?” 

“Right,” Wes nodded, joining Cal in ignoring the two strangers thoroughly. “We need to get Sully some proper weapons as well.”

“I have a knife,” Sully protested.

“You have a piece of shit,” Cal told him, shaking his head. “It barely cuts cheese. We’ll get you a real knife.” Or three. Cal believed in always having a few extras. 

“Before we set out I’ll put some enchantments on all the weapons, just to be extra cautious,” Mick said, looking at the table. “It never hurts.”

Joey made another annoyed noise and stalked away, back to his table with Travis, who followed him. Cal didn’t look up. “Yeah,” he said with a nod. “It doesn’t. God only knows what kind of danger we might run into out there. I want to be ready for anything.” 

Cal didn’t like unknown factors, and more seemed to be presenting themselves every day with this job. In his experience, the best way to mitigate those was to plan as well as possible, and just be ready to cut anything that might jump out of the grass off at the knees. 

Nothing was going to get in between them and that sceptre. Or at least nothing was going to be allowed to stay in their way for long.


	29. A Productive Day Is always Worth the Work that Goes into It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A day on the job.

“Go wake up your son,” Mick told Cal, stretching. 

Cal rolled his eyes. “He’s the same age we are.” Roughly, anyway.

“And yet you knew who I was talking about,” Mick teased. 

Cal didn’t have an answer to that. “You win this round. I’ll be right back.” He got headed over to Sully’s tent as the two of them started breakfast. As he went, Cal cast a glance over at the third tent that was pitched under the overhang they’d camped over with the thought of not being seen from the sky. Joey and Travis weren’t out yet, but he could vaguely hear their voices in the tent. All the time here and the two days they’d been searching through dragons’ nests so far with no incident, but he still wondered what they actually wanted. 

“Sully,” Cal said at the flap of Sully’s tent. There was no answer, which didn’t surprise Cal since Sully was a heavy sleeper, especially in the mornings. He also wasn’t very good at tying his tentflaps shut, so it wasn’t hard to get in. “I’m coming in, get your hand out of your pants.”

Sully’s hand wasn’t in his pants. He was a sprawler, arms thrown out to either side and legs spread, laying diagonally across his bedroll in his smallclothes, blankets a tangle around his bare legs. He slept with his mouth open too. Cal went in and crouched beside his head. “Sully. Wake up.”

Sully chose not to comply. 

Cal sighed, reached down and flicked his ear. 

Sully yelped, starting and rolling away from Cal, tangling himself further in the blankets as he tried to sit and face Cal. “What the fuck?”

“Wake up.”

“I’m fucking awake!”

Cal smiled. “I see that. You’re welcome.” 

“You’re an asshole,” Sully told him, glaring as he blinked sleep out of his eyes. 

“So they tell me. But being nice doesn’t do much to get you started in the morning, does it?”

Sully made a noise, rolled his eyes. Then he suddenly seemed to notice the state sleep had left him in, which Cal had been politely ignoring, and made a different noise, seizing the blankets in an attempt to cover himself. “There’s a fucking thing called privacy, you know,” he muttered, red in the face. 

“Never heard of it,” Cal said, standing. “Don’t take forever dealing with that, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today.”

“Fuck you!” Sully raised his voice just a little.

“I remember you saying you didn’t want to not that long ago,” Cal said over his shoulder as he left the tent, chuckling. 

He sat down on a rock beside Wes, leaning into him and pulling his hand-drawn map of the area out of his pocket as he did. Wes put an arm around him. “How long are we going to have to wait for him to get his ass up?”

“Probably only a few minutes. He’s stuck with a little problem,” Cal said with a smile, looking down at the map. He was trying to chart as they went so they didn’t end up getting lost or going in circles by accident. 

“You’d think you’d have more sympathy,” Wes laughed.

“You’d think. And yet.” Cal pointed over to the west, up the path. “When we scouted up there last night I’m pretty sure I saw some more caves, so that’s where we’ll head today. If our luck holds we’ll get through at least two or three more.” They’d managed to do three both yesterday and the day previous, and ran into zero dragons on the way. 

“Our luck could also improve and we could find the stupid thing,” Wes suggested.

“Let’s not get crazy,” Cal muttered. “If all else fails, we can probably make a fortune moving some of the stuff we’ve found already.” Dragons hoarded by nature, so they pretty much always had cool stuff in their caves. The benefit of being in the cave when the dragon wasn’t home was that there was nobody to notice if a few piece of that cool stuff went missing into their bags.   
He frowned suddenly. “Wait, was that a short joke earlier?” 

“Took you long enough.” 

“I assumed it was a boner joke.”

“It was both.”

“You suck.”

“Much to your enjoyment. Back on the topic of looting, we all know you’re not going to let us leave until we find what we came for, love.” 

Cal smiled, though he was still a bit miffed. “No, I’m not.” He glanced over at the third tent again. “Sully’s not the only one who has trouble getting up in the morning, is he?”

“Apparently not.” Wes glanced over there too as Mick came over and sat with them, passing out bowls for breakfast. “They’re having sex.”

“Really?” Cal frowned. “It’s really better to do that at night when there’s more time. I’m not sitting here waiting for them…”

“Probably not right now,” Wes clarified. “But just, you know. Generally.”

Oh. Cal nodded. “Good for them. Poor Sully.”

“I don’t think they’re bothering Sully,” Mick told him. 

“I don’t know, they’re a bit loud. I heard them last night when I got up to pee,” Wes said.

“I meant poor Sully’s the only person who’s stuck with his hand for companionship,” Cal chuckled. 

“He’ll live.”

“I know, it’s just funny.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“You love me anyway.”

“It’s not clear why,” Mick sighed. “Let’s eat so we can get going.”

Cal nodded. “If Sully hurries the hell up, maybe we can just leave the two of them behind.”

Sadly, Sully didn’t hurry the hell up and by the time they were finished breakfast, Joey and Travis had come out from their tent, Joey still hidden in his cloak, and managed to strike camp at the same time. 

They managed to search through two nests that morning before lunch, to no avail. Cal found a signet ring with the sigil of some long-vanished noble house, and Wes uncovered a pair of golden gauntlets that Mick identified as magical. Mick found what he thought was a spellbook, and Sully had the most luck, finding a locket with an old painting of a noble woman inside, a pair of eyeglasses that let him see in the dark and a sceptre that they all got excited about for the few seconds before they realized it wasn’t the one they were looking for, too bejeweled and made from tarnished silver. None of them found what they were looking for, though. 

They stopped for lunch on a little plateau where the path widened out for a bit. The terrain was hilly and steep, getting more and more cliff-like the more they headed west, which wasn’t unexpected. It was a lot of paths that they had to hope went places and, increasingly, moments of climbing. It was hot, a dry heat that felt oppressively not-dry in a way that Cal found a little unnerving. 

“You know,” Joey said, coming up to Cal as they were packing away lunch and getting ready to move again, “this might go faster if you’d tell us what you were looking for so we could help.”

Cal looked at him, or what he could see of him under that hood. The way the top of the hood rested on his head was strange, as if he had a hat on underneath. “I might do that if you’d tell me why you’re so interested in what we’re doing out here,” he countered. He didn’t need Joey and Travis deciding to steal the Sceptre once they’d found it. 

Joey let out an agitated sigh. “Is it so hard for you to believe that I’m worried about you getting eaten by dragons?”

“Yes.” Cal tightened his pack and stood. “The last several times I ran into people seemingly at random who are interested in what I’m doing, they’ve either tried to rob me or turned out not to exist. It’s coloured my impression of strangers a little.” 

“Well…” That clearly threw Joey, which Cal had meant for it to. He didn’t say anything else, and Cal called for them to get going again. 

There was another cave not far from where they were, and this one had clearly been abandoned for a long while, and yielded nothing interesting at all. “I don’t like them,” Sully told Cal as they searched. 

“Me either,” Cal agreed. “But I’m not too worried about it.” For all that he wasn’t sure about them, Cal really didn’t think that Joey or Travis meant them any harm.

“They’re nosy and I get bad vibes from Joey,” Sully declared, wiping sweat from his forehead. “I don’t like that he’s hiding under that cloak. It’s too hot for that, it’s got to be because he’s hiding something.”

Cal nodded, holding his torch a little higher in the dark cave, which revealed nothing. “Yeah. I’m keeping an eye on him, don’t worry.”

“Okay, but…fuck, what’s that?”

“What’s what?” Cal asked. Sully was wearing those eyeglasses, so he was doing a lot better in the dark than Cal was. 

“That.” Sully pointed, and he looked at Cal, took off the glasses and offered them up. 

Cal put them on, disturbed at first by how quickly everything suddenly got clear. Then he looked where Sully was pointing. “Oh, wow.” 

The dragon had been dead a long while, long enough that only its skeleton was left. The ribs stood taller than Cal by a good two feet, and he and Sully together could have fit inside the skull. They approached it, and Cal gave the glasses back to Sully as the skeleton came into the torch light. “I guess we know why there’s nothing in this cave.”

“It’s already been looted.”

Cal put a hand up to the dragon’s bones, which felt cold, metallic. “I knew they were big, but…”

“There are human bones here too,” Sully said, pointing them out. Cal held the torch out, saw them not far from the dragon. Still dressed in rusted armour, a broken sword beside them. Several of the bones seemed to be broken. “Do you…think they killed each other?”

Cal nodded. “Yeah, I bet they did. Guys, come here!”

They were joined by the other two. “Did you find something? Because the rest of the cave has turned up a whole lot of…oh, shit,” Mick said, as his ball of light came closer and illuminated the dragon skeleton. 

“We were grave robbing this time,” Wes said, putting a hand against the dragon’s skull. “Wow.”

Mick gestured and his light got brighter, started to gently fill the whole area in a way that wouldn’t hurt their eyes, letting them all properly see the dragon. Sully took his glasses off and stuck them carelessly in a pocket. 

“You know, I really like our jobs sometimes,” Cal said, as they all looked up at it.

More footsteps could be heard coming from behind. “Guys, you really should tone the light down, you’ll attract…oh.” Joey was staring up at the dragon too, and Travis’s hand came up to rest on his back. 

None of them said anything for quite a while, just looking up at it, contemplating the size, the scope, the timeframe. The marks the past left on the present, what was left behind.

After a while, though, Cal had to turn away. “We should go,” he said quietly. 

Wes, Mick and Sully followed him, but Joey and Travis lingered in front of the dragon skeleton for another few minutes, not emerging from the cave until Cal had already pointed in the direction he wanted to go. “So weird to think they can die,” Sully said as they started walking. “They’re so big and…” he shrugged.

“Everything dies eventually,” Joey muttered, looking at the ground as they walked, obviously trusting Travis to lead him in the right direction as he walked behind his friend. 

“The caves are getting more concentrated,” Wes said, coming up alongside Cal as they walked. “And the cliffs are getting steeper.”

Cal nodded. “It’s going to get harder now.”

They came across a gap in the path, which Mick had to magic them over, much to Cal’s amusement as he watched Sully. Not that he’d been any less freaked out, but anyway. Once they were across that, Mick spotted another cave not far from them, and they headed there. “After this, let’s think about looking for a place to camp,” Cal said as they approached it. “There’s still some light left, but we’ve gone through a lot of them today already.”

This cave smelled, a fetid air that wafted out and hung in the air. “This one’s not empty,” Joey warned.

“Yeah.” Cal held out a hand for everyone else to hang back, and snuck towards the entrance, peering inside. There was a lot of stuff in there, but nothing moving. “It is at the moment. Let’s be quick. No browsing this time.” 

“We could help,” Joey reminded him.

“We’ve had this conversation already.” Cal waved at Wes, Mick and Sully and the three of them followed him inside. 

The bodies of what looked like two different cows were to one side of the cave, opposite the piles of treasure the dragon had hoarded. “Gross,” Sully declared. 

“I didn’t know dragons planned ahead,” Wes said, looking over there. 

“They don’t, usually.” Joey had followed them in, and was frowning at the cows. He glanced at Travis, and started to go deeper into the cave. 

“Don’t get lost!” Cal called, and got a wave in response.

“You could let them help,” Mick said as they started to root through all the piles of things. Some gold, lots of chalices and jewelry and gilded furniture, even. No coral sceptres. “Even if they tried to steal from us, we outnumber them two to one.”

“I know,” Cal said with a sigh. “It’s the principle. I don’t like not being told the truth.”

Sully and Wes had moved around to the back side of the piles, rooting through them from there. Since there was nothing on they side they could see, Cal followed after them, letting Mick come with him. 

Joey and Travis’s footsteps returned before they did, running this time. “Guys. We have to go.”

“We’re not done,” Cal called. 

“There are baby dragons in the back of the nest. If he comes back while we’re here, he’s going to be _pissed._ ” Under his hood, Joey looked genuinely scared. Unencumbered by a cloak, Travis was more openly worried.

Cal looked at Mick, took a breath of rotting air to call out to Sully and Wes. 

A rush of air filled the cave with the smell of outside. All six of them ducked behind the piles of gold. The cave shook a little. Green-scaled and long, the dragon came into the cave, another dead cow in its mouth, which it tossed to the side with the other two. 

Wes loosened his axe and Mick was moving his fingers a little. Sully was mouthing the word ‘fuck’ over and over beside Cal. Cal looked over, judged the distance between them and the mouth of the cave. If the dragon went back to where its babies were, they’d be able to get out, no problem. 

Joey seemed to twitch, and a small cascade of treasure sounded, filling the cave with clanging as he covered his ears, clearly wishing he was somewhere else. 

The dragon’s head swung around, and it lumbered over, taking up nearly all the space between the floor and ceiling. “Go!” Cal hissed, and Wes and Mick both stayed low, moving behind the piles and towards the entrance, out of the dragon’s sight. Sully followed after Cal gave him a good shove. Travis was pulling at Joey, but they weren’t moving quickly enough. The dragon was inspecting the piles, near where Joey had made all that noise. 

Cal closed his eyes, already annoyed with himself, and he seized a heavy golden chalice and threw it with all his strength. It cleared the dragon’s head, hit the floor near the back of the cave, towards where the babies were. 

The dragon snapped its head in that direction, and Cal grabbed Travis and Joey by one arm each and pulled. “Come _on._ ” All three of them made their way to the entrance while the dragon went to go check on its young. 

Outside, Cal breathed in the relatively fresh air as he put his back to the wall beside the cave entrance for a second, smiling when Wes and Mick crowded him. “I’m okay.”

“You almost got us killed,” Sully growled at Joey, who was on his hands and knees with Travis’s arm around his back. 

“I’m sorry,” Joey panted.

“Yeah, that would mean a lot if we’d been fucking eaten.”

“It was an accident, Sully.” Cal said, looking across the ravine that they were There was a cliff that went up quite high, and up there he could see another cave with no obvious means of ingress. 

“Accident, my ass.”

“Sully.” Cal looked away from that cave, at Sully. “It’s okay. It happens. We’re not dead, which is what matters.”

Sully glared down at Joey for a minute, but sighed. “I guess.” He didn’t sound convinced, but he stopped looking like he was thinking of kicking Joey, at least. 

Travis looked up at Cal. “We should get away from here and set up camp.”

“Yeah,” Cal nodded. “Except for that second part.” He pointed up at the cave he’d seen. “I want to look in there first.”

All of them looked up to where he was pointing, and there were a variety of pained expressions. “How are we going to get up there?” Sully asked.

“I can’t magic us up that far,” Mick added. 

“Can you help us across the ravine?” Cal pointed lower down now, to a small outcropping they could stand on. Mick squinted at it, nodded after a minute. “Good. Take us over, and we’ll climb from there. We’ve still got three hours of light, I think. Should be enough.”

“This can wait until tomorrow,” Travis insisted, shaking his head. Joey was standing now, breathing a little more normally. “It doesn’t have to be today, you’ve already done a lot today.”

Cal shook his head, still looking up there. “It’s in there.” 

“You don’t know that.”

Yes, Cal did. “No, I don’t. But I’ve been doing this for a long time. My instincts tell me it’s in there.”

“A long time?” Travis sounded incredulous. “You’re my age.”

“Some of us got an early start,” Cal told him, turning to Mick, Wes and Sully. “Guys?”

Mick nodded. “If you think it’s in there, let’s go.”

“If it’s not, you’re getting dunked in the next river we cross,” Wes warned.

Sully sighed when Cal looked at him. “We’re all going to die anyway, may as well be before we’ve fucking recovered from almost all dying. Stick it all into one day, you know?”

“You’re all fucking insane,” Travis said quietly. 

“Main job requirement,” Sully told him, very matter-of-fact. 

“Our boy’s growing up so fast,” Wes said, wiping away an invisible tear.

“Fuck you.”

“You’re propositioning us an awful lot today,” Cal told him, smirking. “Mick?”

“Yeah. You’re going to have to go across one at a time, because that’s the number of people I can lift at once.” Mick nodded, looking around. “Wes, we’re going across first. Let me on your back.”

“Yeah.” Wes got down on a knee, let Mick climb on him. 

“Mick can’t lift himself,” Cal told the others as Wes stood and Mick took a breath. “So Wes has to carry him.” One of those weird things about magic that Cal didn’t understand. 

“While Mick carries Wes,” Sully added, watching them. 

“Yeah. We’ve done this before, don’t worry. Careful, guys.” 

Mick nodded. “I’ll take you over by size so I don’t tire myself out.” As he said that, Wes lifted off the ground, and Mick smiled. “See you in a minute.”

Slowly, they floated across the ravine, which wasn’t that wide, probably only about ten feet. “Fuck,” Sully muttered, watching them. “I’m going to be sick.”

“Don’t be,” Cal advised. He glanced at Travis and Joey. “Are you coming with us?”

They looked at each other for a second before Travis nodded. “I guess.”

“Then you’re going next.” Sadly, even though Joey was short too, Cal was going to end up going last again, just because Joey was fucking heavy, as Cal had learned while pulling him. 

Cal watched Wes and Mick until they were across and standing on the outcropping. He waved at them, then patted Travis on the shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” Joey said to him. “I’ll be over in a minute.”

“Yeah, Mick probably won’t drop you, don’t worry.” Cal said with a smile.

“What?”

But it was too late, Mick was holding out a hand on the other side of the ravine and Travis was floating in the air. “Hold still,” he called over.

“That’s harder than it sounds!”

“Falling is easier than it sounds too, so hold still,” Mick ordered.

Travis held still while he was floated over. “You next,” Cal said to Sully. 

“Maybe I could just…I don’t know, quit the team? Or go get chummy with that dragon in there? Or…something?” Sully asked. 

Cal patted him on the back while Travis landed, and Mick lifted Sully into the air. “Fuck all of you, you’re the worst.”

“More propositions?” Teasing Sully was way too fun. This was probably how Mick and Wes felt about teasing Cal.

Sully managed to glare at Cal over his shoulder before he started to move across the ravine, which he suffered in silence and with his eyes closed. He managed not to throw up. 

“Thanks for helping me,” Joey muttered quietly as they watched Sully go. 

Cal let out the breath he’d been holding when Sully’s feet touched the ground. Everyone he liked was across, at least. “Just because I don’t want you here doesn’t mean I want you dead. Be more careful next time, okay?”

Joey nodded. “Sorry. I was scared.”

“Me too.” Cal patted him on the back, and he was lifted from his feet with a badly concealed yelp. “Dragons have that effect, I guess.”

Any reply Joey might have made was swallowed as he was floated across the ravine, clutching his cloak shut, which just made him look like a ghost or someone’s laundry, hanging there in the wind. 

When he was on the outcropping, Cal smiled. “Ready?” he called across. 

Mick nodded and Cal took a step back, ran the two steps to the ledge and leapt into the air, enjoying the rush he got as he sailed, feeling the moment when Mick’s magic grabbed him to stop him from falling. Sully shouted out loud when he jumped. 

“I hate it when you do that,” Mick told him when he put Cal’s feet on the ground, perhaps slightly harder than necessary. 

“It’s fun, and I know you’ll catch me.” Cal grinned. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah.” 

From here, it was clear that there was ground about fifteen feet below them, and looking up Cal could see a lot of potential handholds. “Mick.”

“Yeah.” He put a hand on the cliff face, then started climbing up it easily. It wasn’t totally vertical, which helped a little.

“Shouldn’t he be there to catch us if we fall?” Sully asked. 

“He will be,” Cal told him, watching. “But he’s the better climber of all of us. He’ll find a safe way up and watch us from the top. Pay attention to where he goes.”

They were about fifty feet from the cave Cal had seen, and fortunately Mick was able to take a reasonably straightforward path to get there. He climbed up into the mouth and a second later stuck his head over, waving them up. “Alright, follow me, especially if you’ve never climbed before. Put your hands where I do.” 

Cal took a breath and grabbed hold of the rock wall, pulling himself onto it. It wasn’t very far; the three of them had climbed four times this height to get out or a canyon in the north a little over a year ago and it had been raining then. He moved slowly and carefully, ignoring the protests in his hands and wrists as he used them to support more of his weight than they would have liked. 

He was a little out of practice, but it wasn’t the most arduous climb ever, fortunately, and he kept his eyes up on the ledge where Mick was waiting. 

The wind picked up a little, but not enough to be worrying. Nor enough to really take any of the heat off, which would have been nice with how much Cal was sweating. He didn’t like sweating very much, and tried to avoid doing it if he could. It made grabbing the rocks just a tiny bit more precarious. He wished he hadn’t gone first; he could hear the other behind him, but not see them. They were fine, Mick was watching them too, but not being able to see them worried Cal more than it should have.

He almost didn’t notice when he got there, not until Mick’s hand was around his wrist, pulling him up. Cal let him, letting out a sigh as he was on the solid ledge. “Fuck, I forgot how much I don’t like climbing.”

“You’re the one who wanted to come up here,” Mick reminded him, as Cal looked down to see the others. Sully was next with Wes behind him, and Joey, then Travis in the rear. All of them seemed to be doing okay and one by one, Cal and Mick helped them all up onto the ledge. 

“We’re never doing that again,” declared Sully. “Whatever voting power I have on this team is going towards voting that we never do that again.”

“Okay,” Cal said, smiling. “I guess you’re going to have to stay here when we all climb down later.”

Sully groaned. “I hate you. You most of all, mister-jumps-off-a-fucking-cliff.” 

“There’s always that brief second where I consider not catching him,” Mick admitted. 

“I don’t know why I’m friends with any of you people,” Cal announced, turning and looking into the cave. The position of the sun did a lot to illuminate the front part of it, which was nice. It was big, both tall and wide, descending quite sharply from where they were standing into a large cavern that even from here Cal could tell was filled with shiny stuff. 

“This is going to take a long time to look through,” Wes said, considering the cave. 

Sully sighed. “Why’d you have to pick the cave of the rich guy dragon? We can’t take anything from here or we’ll have to carry it down the fucking cliff.”

“It’s probably a rich lady dragon,” Joey said, still catching his breath a little from the climb. “This seems like it would be the matriarch’s cave.”

“What, like all the other dragons’ mom?” Sully asked.

“Not really.” Joey seemed to smile. “Maybe. Female dragons are bigger and more aggressive than males, and the males have to compete for them. Since this is the biggest cave and it’s surrounded by smaller caves—and at least one of them has a male dragon living in it, since we just met him—it would make sense if this was the female’s cave. Since there are so many dragons in this area, there are probably a lot of females, but each of them would want their own territory away from the others as much as possible.”

“So those were her babies in the other cave, then,” Cal ventured, taking a careful look around the cave to make sure she wasn’t home. 

“Yes. The dads take care of the young once they’re born, the females can’t be bothered.” 

“You know quite a lot about dragons,” Wes said, looking down at Joey.

“Yeah,” was all Joey said, and he started the treacherous slide into the cave. “The faster we can get out of here the better,” he told them.

“He’s right. We don’t want to be in here when it gets dark.” Cal followed him, and the others were behind them. “Split up and get looking.”

“Travis and I can…”

“You two can keep an eye on the entrance and warn us if she’s coming back,” Cal told Joey, heading deeper into the cave. 

It looked like it was all one large cavern, which was convenient, but it was dotted with different piles of treasure, which wasn’t. Looking through all of them was going to take forever, but Cal sighed and started looking, letting Sully, Wes and Mick take one each. 

As Cal looked picked through a pile of what looked like mostly expensive dishes, he wondered how it was that dragons were so patient. All the nests they’d been in so far had had the treasure arrayed in nice piles, and if Cal were the size of a dragon, he wasn’t sure he’d have the patience to arrange his stuff in such a neat way. 

Now that he thought about it, actually, the piles in this cave in particular were pretty organized. This one was all dishes, there was a pile of coins over there, Sully was looking through one that was mostly jewelry, Mick had his hands in one that was all weapons, and Wes was looking through a pile of what Cal would think of as knickknacks, candelabras and decorative boxes and so forth. “Dragons sure do have a lot of free time,” Cal mused, wondering at that. 

“Look at this,” Mick said, holding aloft a fancy sword in a gold sheath, much too ornate to actually fight with. Cal wandered over and Mick pointed at the sigil that was engraved on it, two stags butting heads. “That’s House Ferrise’s sigil.”

Cal’s face split into a grin. “Ferrise’s plunder. It’s here, or at least part of it is. Which means that sceptre probably is too.” 

“You were right.”

“I’m always right.”

“Let’s not get crazy.” 

“Guys?” That was Sully, and Cal and Mick looked up to see him looking over into the corner, backing away a bit. He had his glasses on. Cal looked where he was looking.

It was the back corner of the cave, an area not hit by the sunlight at all, and all Cal could see was darkness. He moved closer to Sully, peering into that darkness. “What is it?”

The darkness moved.

“Oh, fuck,” Cal whispered. Mick made a globe of light that shone into that part, flashing over scales of dark blue, shifting softly, a form twice, three times as big as the last one, a head with horns taller than Wes. 

Closed eyes, she was sleeping. “Everyone get out, now,” Cal ordered in a hushed voice. “Quietly.” They were lucky she hadn’t woken up yet. All of them started to back away, heading for the entrance to the cave as quickly as they could. Cal couldn’t fathom how big she must be. 

As Cal moved, his eyes swept away from the dragon and into the rest of the area exposed by Mick’s ball of light. Against one wall of the cave, near where the dragon was sleeping, were some chairs, a sofa, a table and the rest of a collection of furniture probably taken from Lord Ferrise. It was arranged as if in a regular living room, which Cal honestly wondered if he was imagining. There was even a musty carpet underneath part of it. Surely the dragon hadn’t done that?

But in looking at that Cal saw something else in his peripheral vision. In a pile of what looked like random objects nearest the dragon’s head. A length of greenish white. It could have been bone. Or coral.

Cal started towards it.

“Cal,” Wes hissed, seeing him go.

Cal shushed him, waving them towards the entrance. “The Sceptre is right there,” he whispered by way of explanation, creeping his way towards the pile, one eye on the dragon. 

She stayed asleep, which didn’t surprise Cal all that much. If she’d slept through them all talking and looking through her stuff, probably Cal walking wasn’t going to wake her up. He could hear that the others had stopped moving and he gave an annoyed wave behind his back to urge them all to get to the exit as he drew level with the pile.

It he didn’t want to cause a huge crash, he was going to have to move a few things out of the way to get to the Sceptre. It was in there, he could see the most of the shaft of it. But on top of it was a metal birdcage that was too small to hold a bird, which Cal carefully lifted and set aside, exposing what turned out to be the bottom of the Sceptre. After hearing the story Blind Arvin had told him in Pelican Bay, Cal didn’t want to touch the thing for fear of falling under whatever curse was on it, so he took off his shirt and wrapped it around his hand, grabbing the end through that and giving a tug.

He wasn’t cursed, or at least Cal didn’t think he was, but the Sceptre only moved a bit before catching on something. The dragon snorted. It was a small golden box, which Cal reached down and carefully lifted just a few inches since it was part of the pile, shuddering a little as his arm seemed to vibrate. Maybe this was the pile for magical things. 

That freed the Scepter and Cal pulled it out and put the box down, wincing when something inside the pile shifted with a loud clack. The dragon shifted in her sleep, but didn’t wake up. Cal’s heart wasn’t beating and he stepped back, looking at the Sceptre in his hands. The top was wide and clawlike, as if to hold a jewel of some kind that wasn’t there. Cal glanced at the entrance and then at the dragon, and he started out of the cave as quickly as he could. 

He was the last one out, and he started panting from exertion as soon as they were out on the ledge, even if he hadn’t done anything. “Oh, God.”

“I can’t believe you did that, you _asshole,_ ” Wes growled at him. “We could have come back when she wasn’t home.”

Cal smiled at him. “Sully didn’t want to climb back up the cliff.”

“This is what you’ve been looking for?” Joey asked, peering at the Sceptre from under his hood. Travis just looked confused. 

“Yeah.” Cal held it out to Mick, to started to do whatever spells he’d decided on to prevent any of them (and specifically Cal) from coming under whatever influence it might have. “Doesn’t look like much, huh?”

“Not really,” Joey admitted, making a bit of face. Or maybe a lot of a face. It was hard to tell since Cal couldn’t see much of his face. “What does it do?”

“I don’t know. But it’s worth a lot of money, and that’s all I care about.”

“You risked all our lives for money?” Joey sounded incredulous.

“No, the four of us collectively decided to risk our lives for money. You two risked your lives because you’re nosy.” Cal smiled at him, though. “But thanks for the help.”

“I…”

“Look, I like arguing too but can we maybe not do it right here?” Sully demanded. “As much as I don’t want to climb down, let’s fucking climb down so we’re not here when Madam Dragon wakes up and realizes we fucking robbed her?”

“He’s right,” Mick said, finishing his spell. He hesitated for just a second before reaching out and taking the Sceptre from Cal with his bare hands, pausing for a second. “The binding spell seems to have worked. You can put your shirt back on.” He stuck the Sceptre into his pack in the harness that they’d sewn there for it. 

“I don’t want to,” Cal complained. “It’s hot.”

“You’re going to wish you had when you’re scraping all your skin off climbing down this cliff,” Wes pointed out. 

“Fuck.” Cal sighed, put his shirt back on. He looked back into the cave, at all the awesome shit that they could have taken if only it weren’t so inaccessible and also so guarded by a giant monster. 

He gave one more sigh, then turned back to the rest of them. “Let’s get the hell out of here and find somewhere to sleep. Good work, everyone.”

It had been a pretty productive day. Cal couldn’t complain.


	30. Making Friends is Harder Than it Seems

“So why did you guys want that sceptre so badly?”

Cal looked at Joey across their campfire. “It’s worth a lot of money, I told you that.”

Joey chuckled, nodding. “Yeah. But really, what did you want it for?”

Cal glanced at Wes, who shrugged. He looked back at Joey. “So it could make us a lot of money.”

“I mean…” Joey made an agitated noise. “You can tell me the real reason. I’m not going to steal it, God.”

“So says every thief under the moon,” Cal reminded him. He looked at Sully, who looked like he wished they hadn’t drank all of their only bottle of wine. It hadn’t been a big bottle and there wasn’t much for each person with six of them. “Almost every thief under the moon.”

“Oh, shut it,” Sully grumbled. “Some of us prefer the straightforward approach.”

“The straightforward approach might have gotten you killed if you’d tried to rob someone less altruistic than me.”

“Oh, please. You only didn’t beat me up because you’re a vindictive bastard and you’d rather torture me over a span of years with terrible jokes and endless bitching.”

Mick snorted. “He’s not wrong. You do tend to hold a grudge.” 

“Only when people deserve it.”

“I wonder how Beatrice is doing these days?”

“Who cares?” Cal asked, looking into his empty cup and also wishing there was more wine. “She’s awful. Hopefully she’s dead.”

“My point is made.”

“I have a legitimate reason to hold a grudge against her.” Cal scowled. He needed more wine for this conversation.

“You were holding a grudge against her long before you had a legitimate reason,” Wes reminded him. 

“Did you forget about the time with the wolves?”

Joey giggled at them, leaning into Travis a little. “You guys are funny.”

“Don’t tell Cal that,” Sully grumbled, glaring at Joey. “He’ll believe it and then we’ll have to deal with it after you go away.”

“Consider it your punishment for being so mean to us,” Joey told Sully.

“How many knives did you get in your ribs in the last little while?” Sully challenged. “This is us being friendly.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you kind of suck at it?” Travis asked, sipping at his cup. He still had some wine, which Cal didn’t approve of. 

Mick nodded. “Sully gets told that all the time.” 

“The rest of us are very personable,” Wes added. 

“Personable people would tell me what their magical dragon sceptre was for,” Joey disagreed, leaning back on his rock a little. Even now, he was totally covered in that cloak from head to toe. 

Cal sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you, it’s for making a lot of money.”

“But what does it _do_?” Joey pressed. “It’s magic, right?”

“It makes money for whoever sells it.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“That’s more accurate,” Sully told him, looking at the fire now.

“What would I have to do to make you trust me?”

Cal looked at him. “You could start by not hiding under that cloak.” He saw the way Joey tensed at that. “But if you can’t do that, a good way to make us trust you would be to stop wanting to know stuff about us.”

“What?” Joey crossed his arms. “What should we talk about then, then, the weather?” 

“I hope this winter is easier than last year’s don’t you?”

Joey made another annoyed noise, but it was Travis who spoke. “Joey’s naturally curious about most things. He doesn’t mean anything by it.”

“And what about you?” Wes asked, and Cal let him take over. “It seems like it’s your job to explain Joey to us.”

Travis went a little red at that. “Seems like it’s your job to talk when Cal’s not being intimidating enough.”

Cal swallowed a laugh, but Sully didn’t, first snorting and then laughing so hard he fell off his rock. Cal was going to pour cold water on him to wake him up tomorrow. 

“I had a bit of a sheltered upbringing,” Joey said, watching Sully. “Travis is a bit more worldly than me. So he helps when I’m bad at it.”

“Well, we’ll give you some free advice then,” Mick told him, pointing. He set his half-empty cup down and Cal swiped it. “Inviting yourself to tag along after people you don’t know and then asking them lots of questions about what they’re doing is going to make people suspicious, and then they won’t trust you.”

“So…” Joey had away of emoting without most of his face being visible, and Cal could tell he was frowning. “The best way to get you to tell me what you’re doing is to just…not ask?”

“That sounds right,” Cal told him.

“It’s the kind of back-asswards logic these idiots work on,” Sully said, leaning on his rock from his new place on the ground.

“You’re one of these idiots, you know,” Cal reminded him. 

“Well, I didn’t say you were fucking _wrong_.” Sully looked at Joey again. “Besides, you guys are going to fuck off in a couple of days when we get back to the village, right? So who cares?”

“I guess…” Joey sounded a bit disappointed. “I was just curious is all.”

“Curiosity is dangerous,” Mick told Joey, giving Cal a bit of a look as Cal drank the rest of his wine. “Not to say you shouldn’t be curious. But be careful where you apply it.”

“Fine, but you guys not telling me about the thing isn’t because it’s dangerous, that’s because you don’t trust me or Travis.”

“And we don’t want to risk that your curiosity is going to be dangerous for us,” Mick finished. 

Joey let out a long sigh, and Cal could see him thinking. “Okay,” he said finally. “I wish we could have been friends.”

“Me too,” Cal said, nodding. Joey seemed nice enough, and he was starting to wonder if his paranoia was starting to affect his judgement. Just because he’d decided Joey was hiding something didn’t mean he was right. 

That seemed to get Joey’s attention, but he just snorted. “So, what do you guys think of this weather?”


	31. It’s Always Good to Reward Yourselves After an Awkward Conversation

“Alright, I think it’s time for bed,” Cal declared, stretching, subtly touching Wes’s foot with his. 

“Yeah,” Wes agreed. They’d been sitting around talking for a while, but it was getting late. “Long day ahead tomorrow.”

“Long day of boring-ass walking,” Sully grumbled, watching them. 

“Two more days,” Cal promised. “Then we’ll get to the town. And then more walking while we go north. This is what you signed up for.”

“I wasn’t fucking complaining,” Sully grumbled, looking away as Mick put a hand on Cal’s shoulder. “Just saying, it’s not any different from a usual day.”

“Your jobs do seem to be mostly pretty boring,” Joey observed, leaning into Travis a little, arm around him. 

“The not-boring parts are the parts where we almost die,” Cal reminded him. 

“I guess so. We should head to bed too,” Joey said, nudging Travis. 

They weren’t very subtle, especially not with how quickly Travis nodded. 

“You’re all useless,” Sully declared. “It’s too early to go to sleep.”

Cal looked at Mick, then at Wes. Then at Joey and Travis, then back at Sully. “Did any of us say sleep?” he asked innocently. 

“You…” Sully’s cheeks exploded with colour, which he hid by shaking his head, agitated. “You’re all so fucking obnoxious.” 

“That sounds a lot like jealousy talking,” Cal said, looking to Mick for confirmation. “I think our new teammate wishes we hadn’t bought him his own tent.”

“Oh—fuck off.” Still obviously embarrassed, Sully got to his feet, glared at all of them. “Just, be fucking quiet. That’s all.”

“Of course we’ll be quiet,” Wes told him, shouldering Cal a bit. “We’re only going to be playing cards. Cal gets a bit noisy when he loses, but it should be fine.”

“Oh, don’t even—I’m not talking to any of you. Goodnight.” Sully stalked off into the woods, irritation following him like a cloud. 

Cal chuckled. 

“You pick on him a lot,” Joey observed, as the three of them got up.

“Good-natured hazing,” Cal explained. “He can take it. Goodnight.”

“Enjoy your card game,” Joey said, a smirk practically audible under his cloak. 

“You too,” Cal waved at him. Travis was red in the face, but he’d put his arm around Joey know and was looking very impatient. Sure enough, as he headed for his tent, the two of them got up as well and headed for theirs. 

Once he’d taken his boots off and the three of them were inside the tent, Mick tied the flaps shut and the three of them started undressing. “Cal,” he said, once Cal had his shirt off.

“Yeah?”

“Let’s talk about your crush on Sully.” 

“What?” Cal paused in the act of untying his pants, turned awkwardly to look at Mick over his shoulder. “I don’t have a crush on Sully.”

Mick and Wes looked at each other for a minute, and Wes nodded. “Yeah, you do. It’s kind of obvious.”

“I…”

“You spend a lot of time flirting with him,” Mick interrupted, holding up a hand. “In the same way you used to flirt with us when we weren’t together yet.”

“I don’t think he’s noticed that’s what it is, though,” Wes added. 

“Cal is kind of bad at it,” Mick agreed, nodding.

“Guys!” Cal turned around, stomach feeling a bit funny. “I’m not interested in Sully.” He also wasn’t sure where this was coming from. But if he’d made them feel like that…

“Yeah.” Mick shook his head. “The thing about that is you’re really bad at noticing your own feelings, remember?”

“We’re not mad, Cal,” Wes said, patting Cal’s leg. “I think Mick just wanted it out in the open. Secrets are poisonous.” 

“Exactly.” Mick nodded this time. “I know you chose us. It doesn’t worry me that you noticed the existence of someone else.”

Cal sighed, looking inward. Thinking about Sully, and the way they’d been interacting. He didn’t think there was anything that different. He treated Sully like a member of the team. 

But then, he was sleeping with the only two other members of the team. So maybe there was something to that. “Sorry.” 

“It’s fine. He’s cute enough,” Mick said, considering. “He’s annoying.”

“And loud, I bet he’d be loud.”

“Oh yeah, he’s definitely loud,” Mick agreed.

“I don’t want to have sex with Sully,” Cal reminded them. Even if he did, maybe, have a bit of a crush. He wasn’t about to just jump in bed with someone when he had two perfectly good someones already.

“We know.” Wes smiled at him. “But if you change your mind about that, don’t keep it a secret. We’ll talk about it.”

“You’d…be open to that?” Cal asked, unsure. He wasn’t sure if he would be. But maybe. It wasn’t like he didn’t see the difference between sex and love. He’d slept with people before getting together with Wes and Mick that he’d just liked. Not a lot, but once or twice.

Wes shrugged, and Mick made a face. “Maybe. If you asked me tomorrow, no. But later, maybe. We’ll see what happens.” 

Face burning, Cal looked down. “Okay. Thanks, guys. For…” he waved his hand. “Being so awesome.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” Wes told him, hand coming up and tugging at Cal’s pants. “In the meantime.”

Cal cocked a smile. “In the meantime?”

“In the meantime, maybe we’ll remind you that you do belong to the two of us,” Mick finished, crawling forward and kissing Cal’s shoulder. “Take the rest of your clothes off.”

Now Cal grinned, and moved to obey as quickly as he could. “Finally, you’re talking sense.”

“Oh, Cal,” Wes said, stripping as well. He smiled. “Neither of us is here for your smart mouth tonight.”

“And what are you going to do to—oh.” Cal fell backwards, propelled by an unseen force, and Mick smiled at him, wiggling his fingers. Cal’s pants came the rest of the way off and his loincloth came undone on its own, and Mick got in between his legs. 

Cal wasn’t sure Mick had ever undressed that quickly before. “This is one of those nights where it’s better for me to just lay back and let you have your way, isn’t it?”

Mick looked at Wes, then back down at Cal. “Do we ever have nights where it’s not better for you to do that?”

Cal felt himself shiver a little. This was going to be good. 

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Mick said, licking his fingers and reaching in between Cal’s legs. “I’m going to fuck you. Then when I’m done, Wes is going to take a turn. Sound good?”

Another shiver. Cal glanced at Wes, smiling down at him, also undressed. He’d been a bit wary of Wes entering him. He was so big. But he liked having Mick inside him. Cal nodded, swallowing a little. “Okay.”

Mick smiled, and slid a finger inside. “I hoped you’d say that.”

Gasping for air, Cal tried to relax and let Mick work his finger in. Wes was sitting beside him, at his shoulder, stroking Cal’s hair as the two of them watched Mick. “Try to keep quiet, babe…”

“Yeah,” Cal panted, nodding a little as he felt Mick’s knuckle at his base. Another finger probed around, and Cal took a breath as Mick slid it inside. He was much more used to this now, he knew he could take it. Mick was always slow and gentle with him. Wes was always so nice and encouraging. 

He loved them both so much. 

By the time Mick was ready for his third finger, Cal had managed to get himself into a steady breathing pattern, and he just took in a slow breath along with Mick’s finger, closing his eyes as he got used to it, letting Mick stretch him while Wes whispered to him about how well he was doing. 

Mick’s three fingers were seated all the way inside Cal now, and he started moving them around, pulling them in and out, stretching Cal as much as he could. Then, with a smirk, he pulled them all out at once and Cal yelped a little. 

“Shh…” Wes reminded him, patting Cal’s cheek. 

Cal whimpered a little in reply, trying to keep his breath steady, waiting to feel Mick at his hole. 

Instead he felt hands on his sides, urging him to roll over. “On your belly,” Mick ordered. Making a little noise of discomfort, Cal rolled over, squirming a little as his hard-on was pressed against the blanket. Mick gave his butt a squeeze before using one hand to spread Cal’s cheeks, lining himself up against Cal’s hole. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” Cal sounded needy, but he didn’t give a damn. He was needy.

“Good.” Mick pressed in, slowly. Cal didn’t know when he’d slicked himself up, but he had, and he went in as easily as he could, giving Cal time to get used to him. 

“Stay relaxed, buddy,” Wes reminded him, holding Cal’s head as Mick slid inside. “You know you can take it.”

“I know,” Cal panted, nodding as Mick pushed farther and farther in. He was always bigger than Cal remembered. 

“Our beautiful guy is so big, isn’t he?” Wes asked, as Mick stopped, pulled out a bit, thrust in further.

“Yeah!” Cal squeaked, going a bit red at how high his voice got.

Mick stopped again. “How many times is Wes going to have to tell you to be quiet?”

“Sorry,” Cal whinged. “I’m trying.” 

“Try harder,” Mick whispered, and he gave a long thrust, pushing the rest of the way into Cal in one motion. Cal cried out. 

Wes sighed, lifting up Cal’s chin. He had his cock in his other hand, Cal saw. “We’re going to have to do something about all that noise of yours.”

“I thought you didn’t want my smart mouth?” Cal asked, managing a coy smile. 

Wes smiled back, pressing the tip of his cock against Cal’s lips. “I’d like it to do something useful so we don’t have to listen to Sully bitching tomorrow.” 

Cal kissed Wes on the head of his cock, teasing. “You’re right,” he said. “You’d better quiet me down, then.” 

Moving his other hand into Cal’s hair, Wes pressed his cock to Cal’s lips and then past them, sliding into Cal’s mouth. Cal relaxed his jaw, let Wes in, let him all the way in. He was much better at making room up here. 

Mick waited until Wes’s balls were on Cal’s chin to run a hand down Cal’s back slowly, lifting him up a little in one hand. “You’re so pretty, Cal.” 

And he started moving, not as slowly as he had been before. Not rough, but harder than Cal was expecting. They were shallow thrusts, and getting faster, pushing Cal forward onto Wes. Wes started moving once Mick had found his rhythm, thrusting into Cal’s throat, which burned along with his gut, a burn Cal liked. He was making pathetic little noises as he drooled around Wes’s cock, driven back and forth by the two of them steadily, flowing like water back and forth as they thrust into him. 

He wasn’t the only one making noise and Cal could hear them above him, grunting and groaning, muffled, kissing, Cal could hear them kissing as they fucked him from either end, hands on him but attention on each other as they used him, used Cal’s body in a way that he loved, that he knew was because they loved him. _We’ll remind you that you do belong to the two of us._

Cal was reminded, and he loved that.

Because Mick had lifted his hips he had no friction, no attention at all on his cock. It didn’t matter, not with the angle Mick was fucking him at, not with the sounds the two of them were making above him, not with the heat that was spreading through his body, a fiery wave that was taking him away, and Cal exploded, burning from the inside, shooting all over the blanket underneath him. He clenched tight around Mick, let out a sustained, low moan around Wes. 

That was enough for Wes, who grunted once, pushed all the way in, and seared Cal’s throat with cum, pumping shot after shot into him. Cal swallowed, kept swallowing, swallowed it all until the last spurt, when Wes pulled out, all the way out, all at once, and let Cal have the last one on his face. 

Gasping for air, Cal rocked back and forth, eyes open but not seeing. Mick was still fucking him as Wes fell back, sat and watched, harder and harder. Mick kept going, hands gripping Cal’s hips now, probably making bruises, harder and harder until, with a deceptively quiet noise, he blew inside Cal, burning him from behind just like Wes had from the front. Mick didn’t pull out though, giving Cal all of his cum inside, where Cal wanted it. 

He pulled out too, all at once, and nearly collapsed beside Cal, panting. For a moment the tent was full with their breathing, stale with their sweat, hot with their bodies. Cal lay there, buzzing, tingling. “You’ve been holding out on me,” he croaked.

“On myself too,” Mick muttered, getting up, looking at Wes. The two of them manhandled Cal, turning him around so that he was opposite how he had been, rump open for Wes. In front of him, Mick wiggled a finger, and coated his own cock in what looked like water, moving around. Cleaning it off, Cal realized after a second. That was thoughtful. 

“You ready, baby?” Wes asked, hand on Cal’s lower back. Cal nodded, and Wes, wet from Cal’s mouth, pressed against his entrance now. “You’re nice and stretched now,” he cooed, rubbing Cal’s back with one hand before reaching around to lift him again for better position. “Should go in pretty easy.”

It didn’t, or at least not as easy as Cal would have liked. Wes was a lot thicker than Mick, especially around the head, and Cal’s already sore hole was stretched painfully. Clenching his jaw and fisting the blanket underneath him, Cal bore it for what felt like ages, until he couldn’t anymore and he just thrust his hips back hard, letting Wes’s head pop in with a stab of pain that shot through his body and had him swallowing a cry.

“Fuck…” Wes hissed. “You okay, buddy?”

Cal nodded, eyes squeezed shut. “Give me a minute.”

“Why’d you do that? I was trying to go slow.”

“Too slow,” Cal gritted. The pain was starting to fade now. “Couldn’t take it.” 

“See?” Mick asked Wes. “Cal doesn’t need you to be gentle.” 

“Should I…”

“No.” Cal shook his head. Mick’s hands were on his shoulders, which was good. “I’m okay. Now you can go slow.”

Wes grunted quietly, and he pushed in a bit farther. Rather than sliding progressively forward like Mick had, he then pulled back, pushed back in again. Back and forth, going in farther each time, deeper each time. The pain was gone now, and it was replaced just with a sense of fullness that was the same as what he’d felt with Mick inside him but more, like he was being stretched to his limit, just on the verge of splitting in half. 

“Here,” Mick said, once Wes was a good amount in. He lifted Cal’s head by the chin, offering his cock. The water he’d been using to clean himself was gone now. “Before you get noisy.”

Cal wanted to make a snarky comment, but he didn’t have it in him. Wes’s cock was all he had in him at the moment. He just nodded, opened his mouth and let Mick slide himself in, sucking greedily to get more and more inside, breathing through his nose as he let Mick into his throat, taking all of him in. Wes was still thrusting, back and forth, deeper and deeper, churning up Mick’s cum inside him.

Wes was going gently, but Mick started sliding back and forth into Cal’s throat, not as hard as he’d been going earlier, but harder than Wes, and every thrust pushed him back, further onto Wes, whose dick just seemed endless, like it was going in more and more until Cal was sure that the two of them were going to meet inside him. 

Then Wes bottomed out with a groan, and he leaned down and kissed Cal on the back of the neck. “You took it all in,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “Good job, baby.”

All Cal could do was whinge around Mick’s cock and buck his hips to encourage something else. He felt so full, so hot, and he wanted more. More movement. More of Wes. More of Mick. More.

They gave it to him, gave him what he needed, gave him more. Wes pumped in and out, pulling nearly out every time, firmly pushing all the way back in, filling Cal, pushing him onto Mick, and Cal swallowed Mick down, keeping firmly on him as Mick thrust more shallowly into him, keeping Cal’s mouth and throat full, keeping Cal full. Cal breathed deeply through his nose, inhaling Mick as he did, tears falling as he felt Wes push into him over and over and over and over and…

Wes hit Cal just right and Cal cried out around Mick, nearly choking as he came again, shooting onto the blanket with an almost painful force. When the white that had filled his vision faded and sound returned to the world, Wes was giving a low rumble and, with one very hard thrust in, shot heat into Cal from behind, filling him what felt like forever, cum running down Cal’s legs as Wes leaned down and kissed him on the back of the neck. 

When Wes finally finished, he stayed like that, buried in Cal, leaned over him while Cal worked on finishing Mick off. “You’re doing great, baby, so great. You’re so amazing, Cal, keep going…”

Mick was moving faster now, erratic, close, and Cal sucked harder on him, making a little needy noise. For that, he was finally rewarded, Mick going tense in front of him as he started to cum. Cal swallowed it all down, gulping to keep up. 

Mick slid out of his mouth with a low moan, falling backwards. “Love you,” he whispered.

“Love you too,” Cal said back, trying to keep his voice whole. “Both of you.”

“Come here,” Wes said, lifting Cal up, not pulling himself up, and holding Cal against him from behind, laying them both down on their sides. “There we go.”

“Um…” Cal squirmed a little, more cum leaking out and running down his leg. “Can’t sleep like this, big guy.”

“Sure we can,” Wes kissed his ear. “Went to a lot of trouble to get inside you, I don’t plan on taking it out until I absolutely have to.”

Cal laughed a little, then realized Wes was serious. “If you say so,” he said, too tired to argue.

Mick came over and lay in front of Cal, cuddling with both of them, legs entwined with Wes. “I might decide I want another turn later, so don’t get too comfortable.” 

Cal kissed him, still trying to get comfortable. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to be sleeping much anytime soon. He had a feeling none of them were. “Duly noted.”

From outside the tent, they could hear a faint yelping sound that sounded like Joey. “Sounds like their card game is going well,” Cal muttered. 

“Yeah,” Wes snorted. 

“Poor Sully,” Mick muttered, eyes closed.

“Who?”

“Cute.” Mick kissed Cal on the forehead. “Just don’t forget.”

“I belong to you guys, I know.” Cal smiled, pulled Mick a little closer and snuggled back against Wes. “I picked you two. I’ll always pick you two.”

“We’ll always pick you too, Cal,” Wes promised from behind.

“I’ll never let anyone else sleep with their cock inside me,” Cal promised, yawning.

Mick gave him a bit of a shove on the shoulder. “You’re the goddamn worst romantic.”

“Mm.” Cal smiled. “Yeah. Thanks for putting up with me.” 

“Always, Cal.”

“Always.”


	32. The End of a Journey Is Sometimes Just the Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for a couple things I've been waiting on for a while.

“Do you think your spell is going to work?” Cal asked Mick, as they approached the rock from which the town of Heated Rock got its name. It was heated because of the sun, which was not as impressive as it could have been. It was very big, at least.

“I don’t see why not,” Mick said, glancing over his shoulder at Joey and Travis. “It’s got a powerful enough signature that I should be able to pick up on it.”

Cal nodded. Mick could use the Sceptre to find the other parts of the Regalia, which was good, since they didn’t have any other leads on finding any of them. Depending on how far away they were, they would decide whether it was more efficient to find them and deposit them with Theodore all at once, or return to Merket first. Cal didn’t think it was a good idea to let the Sceptre out of their sight until they had at least one other piece, since it was the only way they had of getting anywhere with this job. 

“Okay. Once we’re in the inn, maybe get on it if you’re not tired? It can wait until tomorrow.” Theodore hadn’t given them a time limit. Cal smiled at Mick. “I know we’ve been working you harder than usual lately.”

Mick chuckled. “Happens. Magical shit sort of requires the magical person, yeah?”

“Probably better if you wait,” Sully said in front of them, hands behind his head as he walked. “Until we don’t have hangers-on.”

“Don’t be rude,” Wes suggested. They were coming up on the rock now. The road curved around it, leading to the town, which was hidden from view. 

“Just saying.”

“You’re saying it rudely. I didn’t say you were wrong, just that you’re a jerk.”

Sully snorted. “Whatever. So are you.”

“What did I do?”

“You totally knew Cal was planning to throw water at me!” Sully accused. “And you didn’t stop him!”

“You should wake up earlier.”

“Waking up early is for old people!” Sully glared at Wes. “Nothing good happens before lunch.”

“Breakfast is pretty good,” Joey called from the back. 

“You keep your wrong opinions to yourself back there.” 

“You feeling okay, Sully?” Mick asked. “You haven’t said the word ‘fuck’ yet in this tirade.”

“Fuck off. Maybe I’d get up earlier if you all didn’t keep me up all fucking night.”

“That’s better.”

“It was also two days ago,” Cal added. “Get over it.”

Sully opted to sulk instead of engaging either of them further, or at least that was how Cal interpreted his silence. 

Smiling, Cal looked over his shoulder at Joey and Travis. “Where are the two of you headed after this?”

“We…” Travis started to talk, but Joey grabbed his hand. 

“It’s a secret.” 

“Oh?” Cal quirked an eyebrow, amused. “Why is it a secret?”

“Well apparently in this group, we keep secrets from each other for no reason, so I’m just trying to fit in.”

“You’re surprisingly bitter about something you supposedly have no stake in,” Cal told him, as they made to turn with the road around the rock, to the entrance of the town. 

There were two people standing there, on the road, who hadn’t been there a second ago. The first was a polished, thin man with pointed mustaches and a black cape. The second was Belle, the healer who Cal had been to see in Merket, dressed in her pink. Belle was holding a sword. 

One Cal recognized. 

Sully dropped his arms from behind his head, widening his stance a little, hands near his knives. Wes had his near his axe. Mick was preparing his magic. Cal went still, watching them. “Can we help the two of you?”

Belle smiled at him, gave a nod. But her attention soon left him. “Interesting company you’re keeping these days.”

She was talking to Sully. 

He was tense, Cal saw, in a way that he hadn’t been before since they’d known each other. “What the fuck do you want?”

“You know what we want, Sullivan.”

“More creditors, Sully?” Cal asked, but that wasn’t it. Something about this whole thing was off. Aside from all the obvious things that were off like Belle having followed them down here with a sword that Wes had broken, which now wasn’t broken, something was just _wrong_.

“You guys should run,” Sully said, not breaking eye contact with Belle and her friend. “Now. Go.”

Cal looked at Wes and Mick, and all three of them moved into fighting stances. Wes’s axe came out, Mick’s hand raised, and Cal drew his short sword. Behind him, Travis pulled out his knives as well, and Joey moved behind him. 

“Guys…” Sully pleaded.

“You’re about to make a serious mistake, Sully,” the polished man said. 

“No,” Sully told him, shaking his head, drawing his own blades. “I’m going to fix the one I made a long time ago.” 

“Sully, what’s going on?” Cal asked quietly. There was something more to this than what the three of them were saying. 

“We’re all about to die.”

Well, that was helpful. Cal looked up, at Belle and her friend. “Whatever your issue is with Sully, get over it. There are more of us than there are of you and we’re not going to let you hurt him.” 

Belle smiled at him. “Don’t misunderstand. We’re not here for Sullivan. We’re here for you, Nathen.” 

Cal took an involuntary step back, chilled through, sword coming up in front of him. 

“Get behind us, Cal,” Mick ordered, fire playing across his fingers, darting out towards Belle as Wes advanced. 

Belle tilted her head and Mick’s fire disappeared. Her friend…twitched. “ _Fuck_ ,” Sully said, as the man in black went blurry and was gone.

He reappeared before Sully got out that hard ‘K,’ in between Cal and Mick, who both shouted, stepping back. Cal brought his sword up, slashing at the man, who seemed unarmed. He disappeared again, this time appearing behind Cal, with a long dagger in his hand. 

Cal spun, breath coming hard, and met that dagger with his sword, the smash of metal ringing through the air. The man raised his weapon to bring it down at Cal, who stepped back. 

A blur, and Sully was there in between the two of them, catching the man’s weapon between his daggers. They weren’t the daggers Cal had bought for him, though. They were longer, curved, jagged on one side, and radiated something that Cal could just barely perceive. “Mick, get Cal out of here,” Sully ordered, pushing the tall man back and slashing at him to keep him away. 

Mick’s hand was on Cal’s shoulder, pulling him back. Wes cried out and Cal span, to see that he’d been tossed to the ground by Belle, who was approaching them now, sword still in her hand, unused. There was no time to think about anything that was happening. Cal raised his blade. “Cal…” Mick hissed.

“She hurt Wes,” Cal said, and that was enough. Belle didn’t blur like the other man, she approached them at normal walking speed while Sully fought her friend behind them. “Magic, Mick.”

“Yeah.” Mick gestured, and flowers of fire started to bloom around Belle, but she just walked through them all, unhurt, unbothered. When the last one wilted, she flicked a finger, sent Mick flying backwards, where he landed between Joey and Travis. 

Cal felt a liquid hatred course through his veins. “Leave them alone,” he snarled.

“You’re the one who involved them, Nathen.” Belle smiled.

“That’s not my _name_.” Cal ran at her, blade forward. 

Lowering the sword, Belle held out a hand and simply caught Cal’s weapon, wrenching it from his hand and tossing it aside. “You can do better than that.” Belle glanced to the side as Mick sent a streak of lightning from beside Joey, and she waved a hand and made it vanish with the smell of burning air. “ _You_ probably can’t,” she said to him. “But you can’t help it if you were born human.” 

With a sudden snarl, Joey lowered his head and ran at Belle as if to headbutt her, which since he was unarmed was probably exactly what he planned. Belle made a derisive little noise and stood there, and Cal took the opportunity to dive for his discarded sword. Wes was there to help him stand once he’d gotten his hands on it, “You okay?”

“I’ll live.”

Joey tackled Belle, who started and made a surprised noise, stepping back really abruptly. Cal straightened. “She’s not invincible.” And was apparently susceptible to headbutts.

“Fuck,” Belle said, grabbing Joey by the top of his cloak, by the hair, and hoisting him into the air. Cal and Wes moved up from behind, weapons drawn. “Should have paid more attention to the entourage.” And she reached up with her other hand, undid the clasp on Joey’s cloak and let him fall, leaving the swath of fabric in her hand. Joey collapsed to the ground in a pile. A pile of limbs and tail. 

Joey had a tail, a heavy, scaled tail that was between his legs as he stood, backing away from Belle, fear on his face. His hair was nearly white, broken by two long horns protruding from his frontal bone, curving up with his skull. 

Cal stopped moving, brought short by that, staring at Joey. “What the hell…”

“He’s a demon,” Wes said, faint. Cal nodded, watching the way that Joey tried to hide in broad daylight, the way he moved back from Belle. He was afraid of her. 

“Not a very powerful one,” Cal muttered, returning his attention to Belle. “Let’s worry about these two first.” He cast a glance over at Sully, who was fighting the other man at a speed that Cal almost couldn’t follow. Joey wasn’t the only one who wasn’t as normal as he’d seemed. Travis seemed to be over there with them trying to help, but mostly the other two were just moving around him to get to each other. Mick had never felt any sign of magic from Sully, but he couldn’t be moving that fast otherwise.

Mick had stood up when Cal returned his attention to Belle, and was behind Joey, looking to Cal for instructions. He nodded at Belle. That was who they were worried about at the moment, demon or no demon.

Cal and Wes ran at her, weapons ready, and Mick prepared some magic as well. Belle made another noise and ducked under Wes’s arm, and she pushed Cal sharply, sending him staggering back several steps as she caught Wes’s axe. She had blood on her front, Cal saw. Joey’s horn must have punctured her. She smiled at Cal and tossed the sword at him, a gentle lob that had it flying in a clean arc. 

Behind Cal, Sully swore and Cal heard him fall to the ground. If Sully weren’t keeping the man at bay, Travis wouldn’t be able to do it on his own. 

Cal reached out, tossing his sword to his left hand, and caught the flying blade by the hilt in his right. He span it, turned, brought it up to defend himself from the strike he could feel coming. 

Steel crashed as his sword caught the man’s knife. Cal looked up at him, saw him straining. He gave a push. The man fell backwards, barely keeping his feet, his cape flying out behind him. His appearance rippled, and he had wings, black like a bat’s, obvious fangs in his mouth, and his hands were long claws. “Now there’s the power I’ve heard so much about,” the man hissed, face contorting into a smile that was too wide. 

Sully stood, and he’d changed too. Lined tattoos ran down both sides of his face, behind pointed ears and down his neck. He had slitted eyes like a snake’s, a thin tail with a barb at the end, and two pointed horns in the centre of his head. 

“Demons…” Cal whispered, looking over his shoulder at Belle. She had horns too, several of them curling up from her hairline, and what looked like a third eye in the centre of her forehead, closed. Her arms had an extra joint in them, and she stood a little hunched. “You’re all demons.” 

“How very observant you are, Nathen,” the man drawled, dagger out. 

Cal took a step back, one sword pointed at the man, the other at Sully. 

“Cal, I’ll explain.”

“Don’t,” Cal shook his head at Sully. “Don’t explain. Trusted you.” He had trusted Sully and brought him onto the team. He had brought Sully near Mick and Wes. “Fuck…” He backed up, until he was with Wes and Mick. Travis had gotten up and joined Joey, arms around him. “All of you.” He, at least, looked human enough. 

“That get rid of your little delusion, Sullivan?” Belle asked, moving away from Cal, Mick and Wes and flanking Sully with the other man. Travis was trying to pull Joey away. “He’s not your friend. He’d see you dead just as readily as the rest of us.”

Wes and Mick had hands on him, holding Cal in place. He couldn’t take his eyes off them, the three of them, except to occasionally glance at Joey to his other side. He felt surrounded, he felt besieged. He felt like everything in the world was wrong and he had to fix it. 

He felt like he couldn’t fix it.

“He’s not who you think he is,” Sully insisted, watching Cal. 

“Nathen ended the world once. Do you think he wouldn’t do it again?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

“I’ll handle Sullivan,” Belle told the man. “Asher, take them.”

“No!” Joey broke free from Travis as the man, Asher, raised a hand, something glowing between his claws. 

“Joey!” 

“Don’t,” Sully warned Belle, trying to get around her.

“Run,” Cal ordered Wes and Mick.

Travis ran forward, grabbed Joey, managed to toss him aside just a widening spear of light shot from Asher’s claws. It enveloped Travis, moving too fast for him to do anything but shout, and surged towards them. 

There wasn’t enough time to run.

Cal was tackled by something hard and sent flying, out of the beam, out of the path of Asher’s attack. He landed hard on the ground, and the world filled with noise.

He watched the light hit Wes and Mick, watched helplessly as it swallowed them, as it took them from his sight, as it took them, as it took them, as it…

All the noise in the world came to a halt as the light disappeared. 

Sully rolled off Cal, panting. “Fuck…” he whispered, eyes closed. 

“Travis?” Joey asked. 

The wind blew over the three of them. They were the only ones here. Belle and Asher were gone. The light was gone, leaving a scorch mark on the ground as the only evidence that it had been. Travis was gone.

Wes and Mick were gone.


	33. Tragedies Might Seem All-Encompassing at First, but Sometimes There’s a Way out

There wasn’t enough air in the world. Cal couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t make himself breathe, because Wes and Mick were _gone_ and they’d taken all the air in the world with them. 

He screamed, raw and hard and long and pathetic and he didn’t care, and he closed his eyes until it all went away, but it didn’t go away, because they were gone. Wes and Mick. They were gone.

They were dead.

At some point he ran out of air to scream with and he was just there, half sitting on the ground, clenched around himself. 

“Cal…”

Cal’s eyes snapped open, air came back to him in a hiss. Sully.

He stood, a sword in each hand, backing away from Sully, and from Joey, who looked just as broken as he did. They were demons, both of them. Cal pointed his sword at Sully, Nathen’s at Joey. “Get away from me,” he snarled, looking back and forth to both of them. “Both of you, don’t come near me or I’ll kill you, I swear I’ll kill you!”

Cal had never wanted to kill anyone in his life. He had killed someone, once, and he’d never wanted to do it again. 

Now, now he wanted to kill them. Sully, and Joey, and Belle and Asher and everyone else in the goddamn world that had taken the only two important people away from him. 

For the first time, Cal really understood Nathen. Belle had said that Nathen had ended the world once. Cal was more than happy to do it again. 

“Cal.”

“No.” Cal shook his head, advancing on Sully. Joey was just crouched there, tail wrapped around himself, crying. He wasn’t a threat to Cal, not right now. “Don’t talk.”

“Cal, please,” Sully pleaded, hands held up, dropping his knives on the ground. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“No you’re fucking not, because I’m going to kill you.” Cal was shaking all over. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the charred ground where Asher’s spell had killed them. Every muscle in his body was coiled like a snake, ready to lash out. 

“They’re not dead, Cal!” 

That pronouncement rang out into the grass, hanging around them. 

Cal went still, swallowing bile. “Don’t fuck with me, Sully.”

“They’re not.” Sully’s stance read conviction. “That wasn’t an attack that Asher used. It was a teleportation spell.”

“It burned the grass,” Cal said, shaking his head. He swung Nathen’s sword around to point at Sully, pointed his own at the charred land. “Teleportation spells don’t burn the fucking ground they’re used on, Sully.”

“Asher’s not good at subtlety. I would know,” Sully muttered, sighing. “I trained him. Cal, they don’t care about Wes and Mick. They’re after you.”

“Then why keep them…”

“Because they know you’ll come after them. Cal—Wes and Mick are alive. Asher didn’t kill them, he took them hostage.” Sully sounded like he might cry. Sully didn’t have the right to cry. 

“What about Travis?” Joey asked quietly, voice a near-sob. “Him too?” 

Cal looked over at Joey, who was getting to his feet, shaking, tail wrapped around one leg, tears streaming freely down his face. His clothes didn’t fit. He didn’t look like much of a demon. 

“Yes,” Sully said. “He was hit with the same spell. He’ll be with them.”

“Where?” Joey demanded, voice hardening a bit. 

“I…”

“Where?” Cal repeated, cold. 

Sully looked between the two of them, eyes landing on Cal. “It’s a trap. They’re trying to lure you in.”

“I don’t care. Where are they?” Cal would kill every person between him and the two of them, he didn’t care if it was a trap.

“Probably the Citadel,” Sully said, eyes averted. “In the Amaran Mountains.” 

Northeast of here by a good distance. Cal looked in that direction. “If you’re lying I’m going to come back and kill you.” He wasn’t sure he wasn’t going to kill Sully anyway. 

“I’m not lying, but Cal, you can’t just go there.”

“Watch me.”

“I’m coming with you,” Joey said, looking around nervously. 

“No.” Cal shook his head. “I’m going alone.”

“You can’t go by yourself, Cal,” Sully insisted.

“I’m not going anywhere with any demons!” Cal shouted. “You’re lucky I haven’t killed you yet, Sully!”

“I’m not a demon.”

Cal looked over at Joey, at his horns and tail, and he laughed, not a nice sound, one he was surprised to hear from himself. “I’m not fucking blind.”

“I’m not!”

“Don’t…”

“He’s not.” Sully’s voice was quiet. “And I am, so believe me if you don’t believe him.”

Sully obviously didn’t realize how stupid he sounded. Cal looked back at Joey. “Most humans I know don’t fucking have horns,” he spat.

“I’m a dragon.”

Cal didn’t have it in him to laugh again, so he just looked at Joey, unimpressed. “You’re a bit short for a dragon.”

“I knew there was a reason I was getting bad vibes from you,” Sully grumbled, watching Joey. “I thought you guys went extinct.”

Joey frowned at him. “Dragons aren’t extinct.”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant…” Sully let out a sigh, gestured at Joey. “Whatever the fuck you are. Shapeshifters.” He glanced at Cal. “There was a project a long way back to try and harness the power of dragons. Led to a lot of dragons developing shapeshifting powers. The project failed, or at least we thought it did.”

“Most dragons can’t change shape,” Joey said, defensive. “Or at least that’s what my sire told me. Some can. Look, I don’t…” Joey shook his head. “Care. I don’t care about this. I just want Travis back. I love him.”

“Fine,” Cal said, looking away. “You can come. We’ll get them back together.” Joey sounded sincere, and if he wasn’t a demon, then he wasn’t as bad as Cal had feared. And Sully wasn’t wrong—he couldn’t just storm a fortress by himself. 

“Thank you,” Joey said quietly, eyes watering again. 

Cal turned to Sully, taking a breath. Sully looked back. There was quiet for a good minute. “I’m not on their side,” Sully said, finally. When Cal didn’t answer, he took a step forward. “I’m not. I fought against them. I tried to protect you, Cal.”

“Why?”

Sully stopped short, looked away. “Because they’re wrong. About you. They think Nathen is too dangerous to be allowed to live. But they’re wrong.”

“They let me live, though,” Cal said quietly, hurting everywhere. “Why not just kill me?” If they’d just killed him, Wes and Mick would be okay. None of this had to happen. 

“Because they don’t want to kill Cal. They want to kill Nathen.” Sully said it as though there was a clear difference. Which there was in Cal’s head, but it didn’t seem like Belle had thought there was. “That’s why she gave you that sword. That’s why they’re luring you in. Because they’re hoping that Nathen’s personality will re-surface properly so they can kill _him_.”

“There’s no fucking difference. It’s one body either way.”

“The difference is that every other time they’ve killed you, you keep coming back.” 

Cal felt his heart freeze up for a second. “What?” he whispered. 

“This isn’t your second go-round, Cal. God, it’s got to be your fiftieth or something.” Sully gave him a pained look. “Usually they leave you be. Usually they don’t even find you. But every once in a while you start to remember Nathen, and that scares them. So they kill you. And it’s never worked, Nathen always comes back.”

_You’re the Doomed One, aren’t you?_

“Who the hell is Nathen?” Joey demanded suddenly. “I get that it’s Cal. And that he’s come back from the dead or something. But why do demons hate him so much?”

“I don’t know,” Sully said, shaking his head. “I don’t know. But they do. And I think…this is a guess, but I think that they figure if they can get him to come back all the way, turn you into Nathen for real, then they can kill him for good.” 

Cal needed to sit down. But if he did, he was worried he’d never get up again. So he looked away instead. “I never wanted any of this. I’d be perfectly happy if I’d never known about Nathen.” Tears started to fall now, now that the hatred that had been coursing through him had softened, been replaced with grief and fear. 

“Yeah.” Sully sighed, kicking at the grass. He took a long breath, and his form rippled, replaced with the human appearance he’d been using before. 

“Why should I believe you?” Cal asked, not looking at Sully. 

Sully didn’t have an immediate answer for that. He picked up his knives, normal again, and put them away. “You shouldn’t. I lied to you. I knew who you were. Not right away, but by the time you hired me, I knew who you were. Travelled with you anyway. You shouldn’t believe anything I say. But you don’t know the way to the Citadel and I do.” 

“Why did you travel with us?” Cal asked. “If you knew, why?” And how had he known? Did demons have some sort of Nathen-detecting magic?

“Because I’m a fucking idiot and I thought I could protect you.” Sully kicked up some dirt. “Because I was part of the group that originally decided Nathen was a threat and I regret it. Because, I don’t know. I thought I could do something right for once in my fucking life.”

“Good job,” Cal grumbled. He wasn’t in the mood to indulge Sully’s self-pity.

“Yeah.”

Cal sighed. The wind swept over them all. “You’re sure they’re alive?”

“Yes.”

“And you know where they are?”

“Yes.” 

Cal nodded. “If you’re wrong, or if I find out that you were involved in this at all…”

“I’ll kill myself, Cal.” Sully was hugging himself, rocking back and forth in the wind. 

“Cal,” Joey said. “We need his help. I…I don’t like it either, but we don’t know where to go and he does. We have no choice but to trust him.”

Cal knew that. “Fine. We need your help, Sully. I don’t trust you and I think I might hate you, but I need your help.”

“Okay.” Sully looked up, at the road, to the village where they’d been headed before the attack. “We should go back to Pelican Bay first.”

“That’s north, it’s the wrong way.” Cal wasn’t in the mood for detours. They didn’t have time for that.

“The three of us can’t storm a demon fortress alone. I can get us help in Pelican Bay.” Sully sighed. “Besides, there’s a road from there that leads east. It’s the fastest way.”

Cal started to protest, but he wasn’t wrong. “Fine.” He slid his short sword back into his sheath, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do with Nathen’s battered blade. “We’ll stop in town here tonight, rest, resupply. Fuck, Wes and Mick had most of the supplies.” Cal swallowed back the lump in his throat. He’d cry later, when Sully and Joey couldn’t see him. “We’ll resupply and get going in the morning. We’re not wasting time.”

“We’re going to get them back,” Joey said in a low voice. It sounded like a promise.

“Yeah,” Cal agreed. “We are. I’m not afraid of demons. Let’s go.”

Cal wasn’t afraid of demons, not at this moment. What he was afraid of was losing Mick and Wes forever. And if that was what they were threatening him with, then the demons had better learn very quickly that it wasn’t Nathen they needed to be afraid of. It was Cal.


	34. Information Is Power, No Matter How Much You Don’t Want to Hear It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we have chapter 300 of the series! And for once I did something impressive and gave you some nice backstory and revelations. Thanks as always to everyone for sticking around this long and enjoying the story!

“We’re going to have to hunt before we get to Pelican Bay,” Cal said, looking around at the countryside after they’d left Heated Rock. They hadn’t had enough money to buy supplies to get them all the way there.

“What about after we get there?” Joey, safely under his cloak again, asked. 

“I have money in banks. We’ll be fine after that.”

They wouldn’t be fine. They wouldn’t be fine until they’d gotten Wes and Mick back. But having enough money not to starve would be a start. 

“Why can’t he just teleport us right to this Citadel?” Joey asked, nodding at Sully. The way his cloak moved when he shifted his head, Cal didn’t know how he hadn’t realized there were horns under there before. People were good at not seeing what was supposed to be impossible, he figured. 

“Good question,” Cal said, glancing over his shoulder at Sully, who hadn’t said two words to them since the attack. To be fair, they hadn’t said two words to him either. None of them were feeling very talkative. 

“Because the Citadel has a million shields and wards up and like I said before, the three of us can’t do it alone. Teleportation spells can go haywire, and anyone who was expecting us, which Belle and Asher are, can easily divert us so we appear exactly where they want us. Or, you know, at the bottom of the ocean or some shit.” Sully let out a long breath. “Which, before you ask, is also why I’m not teleporting us to Pelican Bay. If you want any shot of not dying at this, we need to do it the old-fashioned way.” 

That sounded like a lot of excuses to Cal, but he wasn’t in a position to make Sully teleport them anywhere. “So they’re more powerful than you, Asher and Belle?”

Sully was quiet for a minute. “Belle is. Asher might be now. He wasn’t when he was a kid, but I’m out of practice now.” 

“You said you trained him,” Joey ventured. 

“Yeah well, we’ll go ahead and add that to my list of mistakes, okay? I trained a lot of people. I used to be good at it.” Sully shook his head. 

Cal didn’t care if Sully felt sorry for himself. He needed information, not self-pity. “And this help you’re going to get us in Pelican Bay can help you fight Belle?”

Sully sighed, looked away. “It’s not Belle I’m worried about. She’s better than me, but not by that much. I’m worried because the two of them probably weren’t acting of their own volition.”

“They’re answering to someone,” Joey said.

“Yeah. We’re not huge into hierarchy most of the time, but with something this important, I would be surprised if they didn’t at least tell Cameron, and frankly I’d be surprised if she wasn’t the one calling the shots.”

“Cameron?” Cal asked. 

“She’s our leader. Sort of.”

“The devil is a lady named Cameron?” Joey sounded a bit skeptical. 

“No, that’s someone else. It’s…complicated.”

“We have a lot of time,” Cal told him, not gently. 

Sully sighed. “Okay. Our original leader—also not the devil, I think—is this guy Klaus. He was the first person that we know of who was like us.”

“A demon,” Joey said.

“We didn’t call it that at the time, but yeah, if you want. Klaus made a lot of the older demons, told us what to do. We were his soldiers in this fuck-off big war against the old gods, the ones from before the Catechism.”

“Wasn’t that supposed to be the angels?” Cal asked. Fighting demons who’d been worshipped as gods, if he remembered his history correctly. 

“There was no difference at the time,” Sully said, irritable. “Will you let me tell you the goddamn story?” 

Cal looked at him for a second, but then looked away. “Fine.”

Another sigh. “Klaus ran our group for a good while. He was a genius, naturally gifted, brilliant tactician, powerful enough to shake the world, all that shit, and it was fine. Then one day he fucking disappeared. No explanation, nobody knows what happened to him. Cameron was his second in command, and she took charge. Claimed she killed him, that he’d lost sight of our ideals or some bullshit. Some of us don’t buy it, think Klaus is still alive, but that doesn’t matter. Cameron was the leader when we decided to stop Nathen from coming back. It’s always been her pet thing, and she told us later it was what she argued with Klaus over. She’s…powerful. She was the only person in the world who could ever touch Klaus. To be honest, she was stronger than he was. If she’s in the Citadel when we get there, we’re fucked with a broadsword and there’s not much to do about it.” 

“That’s encouraging,” Cal muttered. 

“I didn’t lie to you. I told you it was impossible from the beginning. But even if she’s not there, it’ll be more than just Belle and Asher we have to worry about. That’s why we’re getting help.”

“From another demon?” Joey asked. 

Sully was quiet for a minute. “From an angel.” He looked at Cal. “You remember the priest, Bartholomew?”

Cal did, and he looked at Sully, skeptical now. And uncomfortable. At least knew why Bartholomew had been so creepy. “And why would an angel help you?”

“Because I don’t care what they taught you in church, the only difference between angels and demons is what side of the argument they ended up on back then.” Sully looked so normal, under whatever disguise he was wearing. Cal could almost look at him and not see him for what he was.

“What argument?”

“The one about whether to find and kill Nathen or to wait for him to come back like the humans were and support him in saving the world.” Sully looked away as he said it. 

Cal didn’t have an answer for that. He just closed his eyes, shook his head and took a deep breath. “I hate all of this so much.” 

“Obviously it was the angels who won the popular vote,” Sully added. “And, you know, got churches built around it. By that point humans had forgotten Nathen’s name and just started calling him God. Natural consequence of the fact that gods plural were trying to kill them. They wanted at least one god who was on their side. Led them to make up one, and only one.” 

Cal felt queasy. “You’re telling me that I’m God?”

“No. I’m telling you that a few assholes who were born four thousand years ago convinced themselves you were. They’re nuts. We’re all nuts.” Sully shook his head. “None of us should exist anymore, the world doesn’t need us.”

“No,” Cal agreed. “It doesn’t.”

“Why do you think this angel is going to help you?” Joey asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be fighting?”

“Yeah. But Bartholomew used to be a friend of mine. And he’ll help Cal—without involving other angels,” Sully added, seeing Cal’s expression. “He was five seconds away from being on our side before the schism, and I’m pretty sure the others haven’t forgotten that. He won’t call them when we ask for his help. And he’s a lot stronger than I am. Asshole.” That last part was said in an undertone as Sully kicked at a loose stone. 

Cal squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back tears again. There was no way around it. He was tied up with angels and demons and no matter how much he wanted to be rid of all of them, he couldn’t if he wanted the best chance possible at saving Wes and Mick. And Travis. Cal didn’t care about him, but Joey did, and it was Cal’s fault that he’d been dragged into this. He’d save all three of them. 

“If Cameron shows up we’re still fucked.” Sully was still talking. “But if she’s not there we might stand a chance, at least.”

“Okay.” Cal was tired. They’d only been up for a few hours and Cal was tired. He wanted to find a bed and sleep in it and cry for hours, but he couldn’t. He had to walk, to get moving, to get to Pelican Bay and get help from whoever they could. 

“If I knew where Klaus was, he’d put a stop to this, I know it.” Sully made an agitated noise. “I’m sure he’s alive, he’s the kind of guy you don’t believe is dead until you see his fucking body. But he’s fucking hiding somewhere, probably just watching everything like a…” Another noise. “I’ve been looking for him forever, we’re not going to find him in the next three weeks, so it doesn’t fucking matter. An attack on the Citadel might get his attention, though. Maybe…”

“Sully,” Cal didn’t raise his voice, he didn’t have the energy for that. “I can’t…” he could only do angels and demons and gods for so long. “I can’t listen to you anymore. We’ll talk about this more later.”

Sully went quiet, a silence Cal would call sullen under other circumstances. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “Sorry.” 

Cal just shook his head and kept putting one foot in front of the other in silence, focused only on what he needed to do, by any means necessary.


	35. There Comes a Point in Tragedy Where You Have to Learn to Laugh again

Cal’s face hurt from staring into the fire too long, but he didn’t want to stop. Moving seemed like a lot of work, and if he did, he’d end up faced with the fact that he was travelling with people who weren’t the right people. 

He wished he had wine, but he hadn’t been able to justify wasting any of their limited money on alcohol when they’d needed to buy things to survive on. Maybe he could have swung some cheap wine, the kind that was barely even wine. 

The fire popped, and Cal blinked as the sparks flew at him, moving back a little. They had finished eating the food he’d rationed out—a good amount, he wasn’t planning on starving them and had confidence in his ability to hunt once it came to that—and were sitting now. It wasn’t quite dark, and they were mostly just waiting for it to be late enough to go to bed.

Behind them, the lone tent that they had with them was already up. Mick had theirs, and Travis had the one he shared with Joey, so all they had was the one Cal had given Sully. 

Cal had taken to sleeping outside.

“How much longer is it to Pelican Bay?” Joey asked, voice breaking the silence that wasn’t a silence, filled by the crackle of the fire, the caws of birds, the wind in the grass, their breathing. 

“I think about a week?” Sully didn’t look up.

“Bit more than that,” Cal muttered. “Eight, nine days if we’re not slow.”

Eight or nine more days that Wes and Mick were in captivity. Cal couldn’t bring himself to think on that, to think about what they were going through. He had to believe they were okay, that the demons hadn’t hurt them. Otherwise he’d just…

“We’ll have to stay there for a few days, probably,” Sully ventured, in that careful tone he used when he was starting a conversation, worried Cal would yell at him. Cal hadn’t yelled at anyone since the attack; he didn’t know what Sully was worried about. “Then it’s a few weeks east on the road to the mountains.”

“Just under a month,” Cal corrected.

“How do you know that?” Joey asked.

“It’s my job to know. I know where things are and how to get there, and I find information and plan our jobs for the team. Wes and Mick do the heavy lifting after that, Wes does the fighting and strongarming, and Mick makes sure our cargo doesn’t kill us. I just watch.”

“That’s like Travis,” Joey said, giving a small smile. “He does all the figuring out where we’re going to go and how we’re going to get there. I just follow him and make his life harder.”

“He doesn’t feel that way,” Cal told him. 

“You don’t know that. You don’t know him.” It wasn’t quite sullen, whatever Joey was doing, but it was getting there.

“He didn’t know Asher’s attack wasn’t going to hurt you,” Sully put in. “And he pulled you out of it and let himself fall in instead. That’s not something you do for someone who makes your life harder.”

“I…” Joey took a shaky breath, nodded. “Thank you.” 

“You know you can put your hood down if you want,” Cal told him, looking at Joey buried under that stupid cloak. “It’s just us here, nobody can see you.”

“I…yeah, right.” Joey reached up and pulled back the hood, revealing his horns and face. “Sorry. Travis told me to make sure I kept it on when I wasn’t inside the tent. He was worried someone would see them and kill me.”

“Has that happened?” Cal asked, wanting to talk now that they were talking. “I mean, have people tried?”

“No,” Joey said, shaking his head. “But people in the mountains were looking for a dragon to kill when we left. Someone kidnapped a prince and they were going to look for him. We were worried they’d kill me if they found me. They…killed my sire.”

“I’m sorry,” Cal said.

“It’s fine,” Joey told him. “He’d already kicked me out of the nest before that. Travis and I found his body after we left my cave. I…dragons don’t feel family the way humans do. We’re solitary. If he’d been alive and I’d gotten a bit bigger and learned how to change shape, we would have been rivals.”

“How come you have to learn how to not look like a human?” Cal asked. “I’d think it would be the other way around.”

“I don’t know,” Joey sighed. “I’m just a freak, I guess. That’s why we were in the cliffs, I wanted to ask other dragons if they knew why I was different. But they didn’t, or at least they didn’t tell me. Assholes.”

“It just means your shapeshifting power manifested in part before you had the faculty to control it,” Sully told him. “You were probably shifting before you were born, and your brain forced your body to stabilize into something so you didn’t emerge from your egg a pile of mush.”

Joey blinked. “Really?”

Cal, for himself, was trying to reconcile the fact that Joey had hatched from an egg. Even if he was a dragon, that was a bit weird for him to process. 

“Yeah. I wasn’t the one doing these experiments, but I was there when they happened. The problem is your brain put a barrier between you and your powers, because it doesn’t trust you with them. You’ll have to break past that if you want to learn how to shapeshift.”

“How…” Joey’s expression turned serious. “Do you know how to do that?”

“No, sorry.” Sully shook his head. “You’d have to ask Theresa, she’s the one who headed the project. She’s an angel now, though. Or Klaus or Cameron, they know everything, but good fucking luck.”

Joey deflated a little. “It’s fine. I’ll figure it out on my own.”

If he could do it in the next few weeks, Cal thought, that would be awesome. They could use a fully-grown dragon on their side. Though even if Joey learned to shapeshift, they’d probably only have a small dragon, he figured. Still, half a dragon was better than none. “Why’d you guys give dragons shapeshifting powers anyway?”

Sully shrugged. “We were fighting gods. Klaus wanted allies, and dragons were fuck-off powerful back then. More than now, and bigger. But hard to reason with or talk to.”

“Did…it work?” Joey asked. “Did we help you?”

“For a while, until you got tired of dying, then you fucked off and we decided to be grateful you didn’t change sides, at least.” Sully sighed. “We honestly thought the power got bred out of you, it was never natural to your species and only a few of you could handle it to begin with. Most of my people would be surprised to know you exist.”

“I’d rather they didn’t find out.”

“Good call. They’d cut you open and try to figure you out before they asked your name,” Sully told him. “Restart the project. They wanted werewolves but with scales, and I bet they’d love the chance to try again.”

“Werewolves?” Cal asked.

“Yeah, like…people who are wolves?”

Cal closed his eyes for a second. “I know what werewolves are. I just didn’t think they were real.”

“They are if you go far enough north,” Sully told him. “They were wiped out down here, but they’re still around on the northern continent as far as I know.”

“You mean in Aergyre’s colonies?”

Cal didn’t know much about those, except that the western empire had sent people and ships and armies up north, far, far to the north and found a new land. A new land with people living on it. 

Sully nodded. “I mean, they weren’t always that. And mostly they’re still not. My money’s on the empire only holding them for ten, twenty more years before they lose their grip on the territory. There were kingdoms and nations and armies there for a long while before the empire tripped over it. One of them invaded you guys about two thousand years ago.”

Cal frowned, mind running through history. “The Flame War.”

“That’s the one. Or ones. It was a bitch of a time to live through, let me tell you.”

“The story is we were invaded from the east.” And all the disparate kingdoms had gathered together to fight off the invaders, leaving the land scarred and charred and in five kingdoms that would later turn into two. 

“That’s because they started there, marched west.” Sully shrugged. “If I’d known they’d get it wrong in the future, I’d have written a history book for you.”

Cal was watching Sully carefully, looking for any sign of falsehood. But there was no reason why Sully would lie about that. “The five waves of invasion?”

“That’s about accurate. And I think they teach you that the invaders were fractious, fought each other?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s because there was a change in monarchy back home after the third wave, and the first three decided not to accept it. The last two waves were to pacify the rebels.” Sully smiled. “The invasions never really stopped so much as the invaders just stayed here long enough they became the locals. Wes has got a lot of Hyggen in him.”

“Don’t tell him that,” Cal muttered, looking away. “He’ll get ideas.”

“If he wants to conquer in the name of a kingdom that doesn’t exist, that’s up to him.”

Cal snickered despite himself. “What’s it like?” he asked. “Watching a kingdom die?”

“Sad,” Sully looked down at his hands. “It’s really sad. But, the things is, they don’t. Unless you wipe a country, a people, right off the face of the world, names disappear, customs change. But nothing dies, not really. It just gets a new name and keeps going.”

Cal nodded, looking into the fire again. “That’s a bit depressing,” Joey said.

“Immortality is depressing. They didn’t tell us that part when we signed up for it.” Sully looked at them both. “I didn’t mean to make this sad again. How’d you and Travis meet?”

“Uh…” Joey seemed genuinely surprised by the question. “He came looking for dragons in the mountains. He wanted to make friends with one. So we became friends.”

Cal couldn’t help but look at Joey. “He wanted to be friends with a dragon?”

“Yeah. I…realized after I met other humans that he was a bit weird.”

“Yeah,” Cal agreed, nodding. “You should keep him.”

“I plan to.”

“Good.” Cal smiled, looking back down into the fire. “Good.”

“How did you meet Mick and Wes, Cal?” Joey asked, watching him. 

“On our first job,” Cal said, smiling a little to himself. “I was looking for something in this town. I needed help. Mick was travelling with this group of actors and Wes was working as a delivery boy for a grocery. I might have…kidnapped both of them at knifepoint.”

“You did?” Sully asked, incredulous.

“If you make a short joke I’m going to stab you,” Cal warned. “It was a bonding experience. We laughed about it later.”

“How much later?”

“Well…” Cal thought about it. “Not until after the prison break, the naked rooftop chase and stopping a magic sinkhole from swallowing the town. It was kind of a weird morning.”

“And they stayed with you?”

“I’d brainwashed them into thinking I was cool by that point,” Cal admitted.

“You pestered them until they agreed to be your friend, didn’t you?” Sully asked. 

Cal rolled his eyes. “Pester is a strong word. I impressed upon them how well we worked together. Repeatedly, for a week.” He paused. “And when that didn’t work, I started stealing their stuff so they’d have to come get it from me.”

“You know…I just sort of let Travis come to me,” Joey offered.

“Yeah, well not all of us have horns to attract mates with,” Cal said, gesturing vaguely at his head. “We have to do these things the old-fashioned way.”

“Stealing their stuff is the old-fashioned way?” Joey didn’t look convinced.

“It’s a human custom, I wouldn’t expect either of you to know about it,” Cal said, waving that away. “The point is it worked, okay?”

“If you say so, Cal,” Sully snorted. 

“Hey. You’re single. I’m not. In fact, I have two boyfriends, he’s only got one and you have zero.”

“You don’t know how many people I’ve got stashed away,” Sully challenged.

“It’s zero. I can tell by the way you dress.”

“Hey! You’re the one who’s had his shirt on backwards all day.”

“I…” Cal looked down. His shirt was fine. “I have not.”

“No, but you checked.”

Joey started to laugh, and Sully snickered as well. No matter how Cal glared, he couldn’t hide that he was smiling too. They ended up staying up well past full dark.

They weren’t the right people, but they weren’t all wrong.


	36. Sharing Sleeping Space Is Surprisingly Difficult, Even with Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter of team building before serious plot stuff starts to happen again.

“I’m going to sleep,” Cal announced, stretching. “It’s late.”

“Yeah,” Joey agreed, looking up at the overcast sky as if in search of stars. “I guess.”

“Wimps,” Sully muttered, shaking his head. “Or maybe you’re secretly both old men.”

“Excuse me, old man?” Cal asked, crossing his arms. “You’re how many centuries old?”

“Exactly, and I don’t go to bed early,” Sully challenged. “Staying up late is good for you. So’s sleeping in.”

Cal held his gaze. “I’m waking you up at dawn.”

“I hate you.”

“Yeah, well, I hate you too.” Cal shrugged. He was pretty sure that he didn’t really hate Sully. Pretty sure. 

It was easier not to look at him and see Wes and Mick disappearing in a bar of light now. It was easier to think _it wasn’t his fault_ and not want to vomit now. 

As they argued, Cal was reaching into his small bag and pulling out his single blanket, prepared to get up and go find somewhere to sleep. 

“Cal,” Sully said, looking at the blanket. “Sleep in the tent tonight. You too, Joey.”

Cal shook his head. “I’m fine out here.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s going to rain tonight.” Sully pointed up at the sky. “The tent can sleep three people.”

“It’s your tent, Sully.” They’d bought it for him. 

“And I’m inviting you in. Come on. Look, I’ll sleep outside if it bothers you that much. But you guys shouldn’t freeze out here on my account.” He had a pleading note in his voice. 

“You’re not sleeping outside,” Cal told him, pointing at the tent. “It’s your tent, don’t be dumb.”

“He could say the same to you,” Joey said, looking at the tent. “It is…kind of silly to sleep out here when there’s a perfectly good tent right there.”

“You’ve been sleeping out here too.”

Joey shrugged. “Maybe I’m kind of silly. I’m going to go in the tent, I don’t want to get rained on. Sully’s…he’s not as bad as I thought. He’s not a bad person, Cal.”

“I know,” Cal sighed. “I know.” There, he’d said it. “I know you’re not a bad person, Sully.”

“Then come in the tent, Cal,” Sully said, waving him over. He gave a nervous grin. “I promise I’ll even keep my pants on.”

Cal laughed. He knew for a fact that Sully slept in nothing. “You sure are making a lot of promises to get me into your tent, there.”

“I just don’t want you to freeze.”

“I don’t know, I’ve read a lot of stories about being tempted by demons, and it usually doesn’t end well.”

“You’re reading the wrong stories, then,” Sully said. “The ones I read, people get awesome powers and stuff.”

“Before they die,” Cal reminded him. “And get dragged off to hell for eternal torment and all that.”

“Well, yeah,” Sully admitted. “But that’s not going to happen to you, now is it? You’ll come back, so go ahead and make as many deals with the devil as you want.”

Cal snorted, headed for the tent. “Maybe that’s how I get Nathen to stay dead, yeah? Give his soul to your friend Klaus in exchange for a lifetime supply of cheap bubbly wine.”

“I told you, he’s not the devil. Just a guy who got powers. I’m pretty sure.” Sully paused, considering. “Possibly he got his powers from the devil, but I can’t say for sure.”

Rolling his eyes, Cal unlaced his boots before opening the tent flap for Joey and then following him in. He threw his bag in there as well. He didn’t go in, intending to put the campfire out and pee before he went to sleep. “You know, all of this ‘you’re secretly God’ stuff is making me worry that the devil’s going to show up one day too. Are you sure you don’t know who he is? It would be useful if I could call him by name when he appears and is all ‘hello, Nathen, it’s been a while.’ You know?” Cal shrugged. “Kind of badass if I could just go ‘oh, hey Pete, how’s it going?’ That sort of thing.”

Sully laughed. “Never met the guy,” he insisted, hands spread.

“Okay.” Cal shook his head. “Don’t know why I keep you around. I’m going to close up the camp.”

“Yeah.”

Sully helped him, and Cal made Joey help too because it had turned out he was kind of useless at this stuff. Travis must have been doing it all for him, but he was going to learn now if Cal had to beat it into him. With that done, they went and peed in the woods together, before heading back for the tent. Cal hesitated for only a second before going in.

“I’ll sleep outside if you really want me to,” Sully told him quietly. “I do understand.”

“No,” Cal shook his head. “It’s fine.” He went inside, letting Sully follow him. Joey had already taken one side of the tent, so Cal sat in the middle, letting Sully have the other side. He stretched, and unfolded his blanket.

Sully got comfortable with his own blanket, before stripping out of his shirt. “I promised I’d keep my _pants_ on,” he said, when Cal looked at him. “Careful when you make deals with demons. Pay attention to the specific wording.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Cal yawned, laying back. He didn’t care. He’d seen a lot more of Sully than his bare chest. 

“You’re going to sleep with your clothes on?”

He glanced at Sully. “You have a vested interest in me taking them off?”

“No, I just know you don’t usually.”

Cal narrowed his eyes. “How do you know that?”

Sully smiled. “Wes told me. It was one of the reasons he gave for why jumping on you in your sleep was a bad idea.”

Cal wondered if he should be more surprised that Sully had been planning to do that, or that he’d told Wes about it. “I’m fine like this.”

“Suit yourself,” Sully said, shrugging. “I promise not to ogle all three inches of your chest if you do.”

“Fuck off, that wasn’t even a good short joke.”

Joey was giggling on his other side. “I’m going to take my shirt off,” he said, already doing just that. “I usually sleep naked too. Clothes are itchy.”

Cal agreed. “If nothing else, at least you’re both not totally insane.”

“I only started wearing clothes because Travis made me,” Joey continued, laying down. His tail was wrapped around his waist. “I never did before I met him. I still don’t really get the point, especially when it’s hot.”

“Humans like to make things more complicated than they need to be,” Cal told him, looking up at the roof of the tent. 

“I know! Ugh.” Joey shook his head, huffed a bit. “I’m telling Travis you said that. You can back me up next time he tries to make me wear smallclothes.”

“You know,” Sully said, pointing upwards. “There’s this concept of too much information.”

Cal was almost certain Sully didn’t wear smallclothes either. 

“I don’t understand why humans are so afraid to talk about their bodies. You all go around pretending you don’t have dicks.”

Sully snorted. “Hey, do I look human to you?”

Joey got up on an elbow, scowling over Cal. “At the moment? Yes!”

“He’s got a point,” Cal muttered.

“Yeah, I could stop wearing my illusion and have to deal with both of you pretending I don’t creep you out.” Sully kind of made it sound like a question. 

With another yawn, Cal gave up and took his shirt off. He tossed it at Sully for fun. “I don’t care what you look like. But I’m going to sleep, so look like it quietly.”

Joey was still looking over Cal as he pulled his blanket onto himself. “My horns are better than yours,” he said after a moment, then lay himself down as well. 

“You of all people should know it’s not about size, it’s about quality,” Sully shot back.

“That wasn’t a funny short joke either.”

“There’s no such thing as a funny short joke,” Cal added.

“It wasn’t a short joke.”

Joey stifled a laugh. “Then I’ve got bad news for you.”

“Big talk from a small dragon.”

“If you’re going to have a dick-measuring contest, go outside,” Cal said, eyes shut. “Some of us want to sleep.”

They were silent for a minute. Cal could feel their eyes on him.

“He’s only saying that because he’d lose.”

“Obviously,” Sully agreed.

“Goodnight,” Cal said. Firmly. He should have slept in the rain. It was starting now, pattering lightly against the canvas.

“Goodnight, Cal,” Joey said, grin audible as he rolled onto his side and faced the wall of the tent. 

“Night,” Sully told them both, sighing. He probably wouldn’t fall asleep anytime soon. 

Cal was still going to wake him up at dawn.


	37. So Many Conflicts Are Just Groups of People Trying to Trust Each Other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to kick this plot into gear.

Pelican Bay didn’t feel real when they passed through its gates this time. Cal let out a long sigh, noting that the same pelican from before—probably—was still standing there by the gate. 

At least some things stayed the same. 

“Okay,” Cal said, readying himself. “We’re not staying here more than three days, and ideally I’d like to leave tomorrow.” He knew that wasn’t going to be possible, just because they’d already lost so much of today and by the time they finished supplying tomorrow leaving wasn’t going to be worth it. 

“We’ll go see Bartholomew in the morning,” Sully said. “And after that we can…”

“We’ll go see Bartholomew now,” Cal interrupted, shaking his head. They’d come all the way here to see Sully’s friend. Cal wasn’t waiting any longer. “We can’t do any planning or anything until we know if we have his help. He’s at Saint Lyra’s, right? The small one.”

Sully looked like he wanted to argue, but he looked away, nodded. “Yeah.” 

“You’re sure he’ll talk to you?” Joey asked. “And help you? You talk about him like you’re not sure.”

“We haven’t been on speaking terms for a few…thousand years,” Sully admitted. “But that’s kind of my fault anyway. I think he’ll hear us out if nothing else. He did used to be my best friend.”

“Okay,” Cal said, setting off. “Let’s go. We can’t be wasting time.” Everything about this trip was a waste of time—not that it wasn’t necessary, Cal understood that it was, but that it took so much time to get here, was going to take so much time to get to the Citadel, everything was taking so much _time_. Even if Sully was sure that Wes, Mick and Travis weren’t being hurt, Cal hated having to leave them there for so fucking long. 

“Why isn’t he your best friend anymore?” Joey asked as they headed down the hill. 

“He, um. Well, we joined different sides during the schism.” 

That sounded weak to Cal, it sounded like Sully wasn’t saying something important. “If there’s something between you two that’s going to screw this up, say it now.”

“It’s fine. The anger is on my side and I’m over it,” Sully assured, but Cal wasn’t assured. 

“You didn’t seem over it when you met him before.”

“That was before.”

“That was a month and a half ago. What changed in six weeks that didn’t change in six thousand years?”

“Four thousand years, and it doesn’t matter, okay? I’m a professional, and so is he and we need his help. I wouldn’t have made us come here if I didn’t trust him to help us.”

Cal looked at Sully for a good long minute as they walked down the hill into the city. And seeing sincerity on Sully’s face, he nodded. “Okay.” 

“Okay.”

And it was okay. They walked down the main thoroughfare, Cal trusting Sully to lead them to the little church. Before he took them off the main road, though, Cal stopped, looking around. 

“What?” Joey asked, peering out from under the hem of his cloak. 

Cal shrugged. “Sully, you recognize this?”

“Recognize what?”

“This is where we met. It’s where you tried to pick my pocket. It’s where I hired you.” 

Sully stood there, a little struck. “Well…that was a mistake.” He was flippant, but he sounded emotional under it. 

“No,” Cal said, moving down the road. “It wasn’t.”

“You know, I…” Sully trailed off, sighed. “I still have that ribbon you gave me. And the mask I was wearing. I don’t…know why I kept them. I don’t know why it matters.”

“Because having people care about you always matters,” Cal muttered, oddly touched that Sully had kept that stuff. 

“Cal…”

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

A little while later Sully took them down a side street, then around a few corners, up the hill a bit and, with one final turn left, to a small church that looked well-maintained, wood front painted blue, a mural of two saints over the door. “Saint Lyra,” Cal said, looking at the one on the left. “And…”

“Saint Stephen, I think,” Sully said, shrugging. 

“They’re not in stories together,” Cal said, thinking. Saint Lyra was known for calming hurricanes on the west coast and was the patron of Pelican Bay, where she’d died in combat with a storm demon. Saint Stephen had cured nightmares and defended people from attack by the demonic while they slept. 

“They didn’t know each other,” Sully said. “Or at least I don’t think they did.”

“Were they real people?” Joey asked, frowning up at them. “Travis told me about some saints, but I was never sure if they were real or just stories.”

“No reason they can’t be both,” Sully said, smiling at Joey. “Not all the saints were real people the way you want people to be real. Sometimes it’s collections of stories that all get given the same name when they’re retold. Some of the stories might be made up, I don’t know. But at least some of them are real. I never met these two, but I’m pretty sure they were real people at least.”

“Why put them together?” Cal asked, still frowning at the mural. Something about it struck him as off. 

“I don’t know,” Sully said, shaking his head. “Ask Bartholomew, though he didn’t paint it.” 

“Then why ask him?” Joey asked.

“What’s the point of a priest who can’t answer questions about saints?” Cal asked, as he approached the door. “Hell, what’s the point of an angel who can’t?”

“Good point.”

Cal pushed the door to the church open and stepped inside. It was clean, smelling of fresh wax and old wood, and a sombre light drifted in from the high window above the door and the other one above the altar. Rows of pews reached from the altar to the back wall where they stood on entering the building, and on the walls were more paintings, all of Saint Lyra calming storms. “Hello?” Cal called out, not wanting to raise his voice too high. There were certain manners that were supposed to be observed in churches. 

A door shut off to one side, and Cal heard footsteps. “Hello,” a voice answered. “Welcome to Saint Lyra’s Little Cathedral. Can I help…” Bartholomew came into view, his mop of dark hair falling a little into his eyes, hands stained with ink, his black and blue robe frayed a little. He stopped on seeing them. “Hello…”

“You can just say it,” Cal said, swallowing a smile. “I can see Nathen’s name on your tongue.” He had the old sword strapped to his back, wrapped in cloth. 

Bartholomew blinked, looked from Cal to Sully and then back to Cal. “I wondered,” he said quietly. “When we met before.”

“You knew,” Cal corrected. “You just didn’t say anything.”

That got him a small smile from Bartholomew. “Maybe you’re right. We’ve never met before. I couldn’t be sure. I didn’t think it was worth making a fuss over.” 

“Someone thought it was worth making a fuss over,” Cal said, walking down the aisle towards Bartholomew, noticing the way Bartholomew went a little tense. At his words or his approach? “They kidnapped people who matter to me.” 

Bartholomew frowned, and looked at Sully. “Belle and Asher,” Sully muttered, dropping into a pew and leaning on the back of the one in front. Joey sat behind him. He’d been told not to draw attention to himself, not to let Bartholomew see his horns, just in case. Cal sat as well, on the other side of the aisle. “They kidnapped his two partners, and Joey’s as well—he got caught in the crossfire.”

Bartholomew looked the three of them over, sat down himself, looking at his hands for a second. “It’s a trap,” he said after a second, looking at Cal. “To lure you in.”

“I know.”

“You can’t go after them, Calvin. I’m sorry, but you…”

“I didn’t come here to ask your permission,” Cal interrupted, with a shake of his head. “Sully thought you would help.” He made it sound like a question in the way he phrased it. Which it was. 

“Why isn’t Sullivan on their side?” Bartholomew asked, looking at him again. “They’re your people.” There was a hint of bitterness behind that. 

“Because they’re fucking wrong,” Sully told Bartholomew. “And because Cal’s not the person they think he is and whatever Nathen has coming to him, it’s not worth punishing Cal over—and it’s definitely not worth punishing Wes, Mick and Travis over. It’s not worth hurting innocent people over.”

“You know, if you’d believed that when we were young, we’d still be friends.”

Sully gave Bartholomew a grim smile. “Do you really think so?”

Bartholomew held his gaze for a second, and then looked away. “No. I wish I did.” 

There was pain between them, Cal saw that. It was a pain that was older than him, something that had passed between them before anyone in Cal’s family had been born. And neither of them wanted it there. 

“Look,” Cal said, not sure how to tackle this. “I get that you guys have a history and if that means you’re not going to help us now, just say so and we’ll go. I don’t have time to waste if you’re not interested.”

Okay, maybe that was not the way to do it. But Cal didn’t have time to coddle these two. They were older than civilization, they could work their shit out like adults.

Bartholomew looked at Cal, surprised, then looked down, shook his head and let out a sigh before giving Cal back his attention. “I don’t know that I can help you. If Sully’s told you anything, you know that they’re being held in the Citadel, which is…not impregnable, but close.”

“We’re banking on that ‘not,’” Cal told him. 

“And you know that Cameron is probably behind this or at least involved. If you attack her, you’re going to die.”

“Why do you think we’re asking you for help, Bartholomew?” Sully demanded. “We know that.”

“So what? You want me to call down a squadron of angels on the fortress? Lose half our numbers in the hopes of taking your leader out?”

“No,” Sully said, shaking his head firmly. “I don’t want any other angels involved. I don’t want them near Cal. They want Nathen just as badly as my guys do. I don’t want him in their hands. I don’t want them knowing about him.”

Bartholomew snorted. “They already know about him, Sullivan.”

“They…do?” Cal asked, stomach dropping. 

“Where’d you get that icon you’re wearing around your neck?”

Cal blinked, hand coming up. “I’m not…” But he was, the silver saint’s icon that had appeared there around his neck again. He’d thought that was in Wes’s bag. Cal’s skin felt cold. He took it out from his shirt, slipping it over his neck. 

“Where’d you get it?” Bartholomew asked, sounding like he knew the answer full well. Sully made an annoyed sound.

“It appeared on my neck after I talked to this priest named Rafe in White Cape,” Cal muttered, looking at it. 

“Yeah.”

Sully hissed. “Fuck, Cal. You…talked to Raphael? I really wish you’d told me about that.”

Cal threw his hands up. “It was before I met you! He didn’t introduce himself properly. Am I supposed to tell you about every vaguely unsettling supernatural encounter I have?”

Sully took in a patient breath. “It would be a good idea, since most of them were probably with friends of mine. Or, you know—the goddamned archangel.”

“Raphael is no friend to either of you,” Bartholomew said, stern. “You can bet he’ll be trying to get Nathen to resurface. Give Sullivan that icon, he should be able to at least stop Raphael from tracking you.” 

“So you’re not on their side?” Cal asked, tossing the necklace to Sully without hesitation. “The archangel—that makes him your boss.”

Bartholomew gave them a shrug. “It does. Raphael was the leader of the faction that opposed Cameron’s faction back in the day. But that doesn’t matter. I agree with Sullivan—it would be just as bad for you if my people got their hands on you as it would be if his did. Either way, you’d die—it’s Nathen all of them want, after all.”

Cal gave Bartholomew a hard look. “Why should I trust you, then? Why aren’t you helping them?”

Bartholomew gave him a sad smile. “Because Sullivan wants me to help you.”

“And that’s a good enough reason? You said you weren’t friends anymore.”

“Don’t you have someone in your life who, no matter what had happened between you, no matter how long it had been or what they suddenly showed up needing, you’d give it to them?”

Cal and Bartholomew shared eye contact for a good minute, and Cal nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ve got two of those.”

He just hoped he never ended up with Wes and Mick the way Sully and Bartholomew seemed to have.

“Then you understand. I can’t come with you to the Citadel,” Bartholomew said, holding up a hand when Cal tried to speak. “Not right now. It’ll be noticed if I leave Pelican Bay and there are some things I need to pay attention to here anyway.”

“You don’t think this deserves your attention?” Sully asked, incredulous.

“I do, but there’s other stuff on the go right now, Sullivan. Besides, I’d get noticed if I came. Call me when you’re prepared to assault the Citadel. I think I can arrange a distraction for Cameron so that she won’t show up. And then I’ll come and help you with Belle and Asher and whoever else is there.”

“And you’re strong?” Joey asked, from behind Sully, getting Cal’s attention. “You’re good at fighting?”

Bartholomew smiled at him. “They tell me I’m both of those things.”

“Okay,” Cal said, standing. He wished his heart weren’t beating so fast. “Okay. We should go make our preparations, then. Sully knows how to call you?”

“Yes,” Bartholomew assured him. 

“Okay.” Cal nodded. “Okay. We’re going to go.”

“I’m going to…stay here for a bit,” Sully said, looking at Bartholomew with a question in his eyes. “If that’s okay.”

“Sure,” Bartholomew said quietly, expression unreadable.

Cal looked between them, nodded. “We’ll be staying at the _Drake’s Fang_ ,” he told Sully. “Come on, Joey, we have to find the bank and then get hunting for supplies.”

“Sure…” Joey said, standing and following after Cal, casting glances over his shoulder at Sully and Bartholomew, who were just sitting there, looking at each other. 

“Hey,” Cal said, pausing at the doors to the church. They both looked up at him. “I don’t…this probably doesn’t matter, right? Which saint is on that icon?”

Sully looked down at it, and gave Bartholomew a look. “It’s Saint Stephen.”

“Yeah,” Cal whispered, unsure why he’d expected anything else. “Okay. I’ll see you both later.” 

And he took Joey out into the street, closing the church door behind him, breathing in deep. 

“Do you think we can trust him?” Joey asked, quietly. 

Cal didn’t know. “I think we can trust Sully.” 

“What do you think they’re going to talk about in there?”

“I don’t know.” Cal shook his head. “I don’t know. Let’s go, there’s a lot we need to do.” 

Cal led Joey away from the church. The two figures on the mural seemed to watch them as they headed up the street.


	38. Names Always Mean Something, Even When It’s Nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Featuring some very fun characters.

“I don’t like horses.”

“Too bad,” Cal said to Joey, patting the flank of Joey’s mare before she could try to bite him again. Horses didn’t like him much either. He wondered if it was because they were prey animals. “It’s faster to ride than to walk and we’re done wasting time.”

“It’s faster to teleport than to ride,” Joey reminded him. “And I won’t get my hair eaten.”

“No, but you’ll get your puny ass frozen in a glacier at the bottom of the world,” Sully told him irritably. “We’ve been through this.”

Joey just made an inaudible noise that sounded like a growl and looked away, hand tight on his reins. 

Cal shook his head, leading his horse up the road towards the gates of Pelican Bay. “I would imagine Travis would rather spend an extra week in captivity because you want to walk instead?”

Joey glared at him, then relented. “Fine.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say.” 

Seeing as how Cal had already bought the horses anyway, it wasn’t like Joey had much of a leg to stand on. He’d taken way more money out from the banks than he usually did for any job; he wanted to be fully prepared for this. Anything that they could use to help them rescue everyone was worth it. 

Sully had spent a night and day at Saint Lyra’s with Bartholomew, and he’d come back absolutely sure that they were going to get the help they needed. He was a little quiet, but that was fine with Cal as long as Bartholomew was going to help them. They needed all the help they could get. 

“So on horseback it’s about three weeks east, right?”

“Maybe shorter if we push it, but we have to be careful not to…” Cal was distracted by a cat’s meow. It was just a regular alley cat, grey and scarred, darting off into a gap between two houses. 

“Cal?”

Cal looked at Sully and Joey. “Is there a gap between those two houses?”

“Yeah,” Sully said, glancing over there. “Not big enough for anything to be there or anything, but…”

“Thanks.” At least Cal wasn’t hallucinating this time. He picked up the pace, speeding away from the cat and the houses. But now he was thinking. Anything that could help them, any help they could get. 

Biting his lip, Cal handed his reins to Sully. “Hold these.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to go…over there.” Cal said, ducking under the horses, approaching two different buildings, a cobbler and a wineseller, with no gap between them. He closed his eyes. 

_I shall be here, when you wish to speak with me again,_ she’d said. 

“Cal?”

Cal opened his eyes, and now there was a gap there between the two stores. He swallowed. “I’ll be right back,” he promised.

“Where are you going?” Sully demanded.

“To have a vaguely unsettling supernatural encounter,” Cal said, nodding to himself. “I’ll tell you about it after.”

And he stepped forward, ducking into that gap that didn’t exist.

Cal flew, the world rushing by him, and nearly lost his feet when the void stopped screaming and tossed him down inside the old lady’s cottage, the matted cat hissing at him. 

“Sorry to intrude,” Cal said, eyes finding the old lady hunched over her fire.

“I don’t believe you,” the old lady said, looking up at him. “You’ve never been sorry for anything. Are you Nathen, or Calvin?”

“Calvin,” Cal said, stepping a little closer. “I’ve always been Calvin, and I always will be.”

“I hope so,” she said, waving at a stool for Cal to sit. “And what brings you to break your promise not to visit me again, Calvin?”

“You know.”

“Do I?”

Cal sighed, remembering that he’d come here for help. “Wes and Mick have been kidnapped by demons.”

“And you seek my help to rescue them?” The old lady smiled. “I cannot provide you martial aid.”

“I know that. But you know things.” It sounded stupid when Cal said it like that. But knowing things was important. 

“I know what can be known. The Child of Misfortune and the Gatekeeper of Shadow are alive and healthy at this moment.”

Cal frowned, though relief stole through him. Thank God. “Why don’t you call anyone by their names? Why all the nicknames?”

The cat hissed, and the old lady chuckled. “Names are the most powerful thing ever given to living beings, Calvin. One should be careful with them. But most of us have many names and use only one in the world. Do you remember my name?”

Cal looked at her, shaking his head. The way she talked, it was clear she’d known Nathen. “No. Sorry.”

“More dishonest apologies.”

“Nathen may never have been sorry,” Cal said, firmly. “But that’s because he was a psychopath. The world should be glad he’s dead.”

“The world is, Calvin,” she said, smiling sadly. “Some of its denizens less so.”

“As far as I can tell, there wasn’t anyone he didn’t want to kill. You knew him. Why does anyone want to bring him back?” If this person had known Nathen, she might know the people who’d killed him. She might know more about him than anyone else. She might know something useful. 

A long sigh. “I only know what can be known, Calvin. You cannot save the Child of Misfortune and the Gatekeeper of Shadow.”

Cal went cold. “I can. And I will.”

“Not so long as you wish to remain human. No human can defeat the enemies you seek to face.”

Cal stood up. This had been a mistake. “That’s not true.” 

“You came here seeking my help, did you not?”

“And that was a mistake.”

“Perhaps. Nathen never sought my aid. Never once. Not even when he had no allies in this world, not even when I would have been his only. He never asked a single soul for help once he started his quest, Calvin. And so in seeking help, you have already distanced yourself from him. Please continue to do that if you value this world.” She held his gaze, firm.

Cal swallowed. “I will. I don’t want him anywhere near me, or the world.”

Or Wes and Mick, or Sully. Or anyone else he cared about. 

“I hope that is the truth, Calvin. Else Armageddon’s Vanguard will carry out its destiny. May I give you a gift, to aid you in your journey?” She held out a hand, shaking.

Cal considered it, then, slowly, held out his own hand as well. 

She dropped a small bead in his hand. “When there is no one and nothing, you will find aid, Doomed One. Trust the King of Nothing. The Star Knight must not succeed. The False Prophet is in danger, and the One Who Leads begins his ascent. The Traitor is chained, and the Oligarch does not speak the truth. Do not fear the Sea, it is the Dragon who imperils all. The Horned Owl will act, and the Puppeteer plays dangerous games. Do not heed the Desperate Soul.”

She withdrew her hand. Cal stepped back. “I don’t know who any of those people are.”

A chuckle. “I am aware, Nathen. But knowledge takes many forms. Do you remember my name?”

“Meryan,” Cal whispered, the name filtering into his head from somewhere.

Meryan gave him a warm smile, like spring. “I’d never thought to hear you say it again. Do you believe we will meet again?”

Cal wanted to say no, he really did. But he nodded. “I do.”

“Then I shall wait for you, as I have always waited for you. Go, Calvin. People wait for you, as they always do.”

“Thank you,” Cal whispered, not sure what he was thanking her for. Slipping the bead into his pocket, he turned and headed for the door. 

Hand on the handle, he turned. “Meryan. He wouldn’t have killed you, I think.” He wasn’t sure why he thought that. He wasn’t sure if he really did think that. Maybe he was just saying it to make a crazy old lady feel better. 

A cracked smile. The cat had come to sit on her lap. “I wish he had.”

Cal didn’t have an answer to that, and he opened the handle, letting the world rush away.

He didn’t end up in Pelican Bay. Cal opened into a small room lit by lamplight, a bed in one corner, a small armoire, a writing table with a small chair, a trunk at the foot of the bed. From the small window, starlight filtered in. 

The man sitting at the writing table looked up at Cal. “There you are.”

“What the hell is this?” Cal demanded, looking around. He pulled open the door, revealing a stone hallway, dark. “Who are you?”

“Don’t worry, you’re not in danger.”

“That’s not an answer to my question.” Cal had no idea where he was, and he didn’t like that. He could feel it rising in his chest, the need to run, to fight.

He wished he hadn’t left his sword with the horse.

He wasn’t sure which sword he wanted.

The man smiled. He was pale but tanned at the same time, features hard to pin down even looking right at him. Short hair, bright eyes, but tired. He seemed to glow, but he didn’t put off light in the lamplit room. “So you don’t remember me yet?”

“I wish you people would stop expecting me to remember you,” Cal hissed, taking a step back. “Who are you?”

“If I tell you that, do you promise not to yell? I’m not the only one who lives here and you’ll wake the others up.”

“Who are…” Cal closed his eyes, trying to breathe normally. “Just tell me.”

The man smiled. “My name’s Rawen.” He looked at Cal expectantly. “Nothing?” A snort. “Should have known.”

“Send me back to Pelican Bay,” Cal said, slowly. “I’m not who you want me to be.”

“I’ll send you back. I just want to talk to you. It’s been such a long time.”

“We’ve never spoken before,” Cal insisted.

“From your perspective. Here, I’ll try a name you might have heard before.” The man smiled, a smile that made Cal go a little cold. “Not a name so much as a title, but sometimes titles have meaning. They call you God, that means something.”

“It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Then I guess,” the man said, smiling still. He leaned forward a little, closer to Cal. “It doesn’t mean anything when they call me the devil.”


End file.
